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THE  BIBLE  FOR  HOME  AND  SCHOOL 

SHAILER  MATHEWS,  General  Editor 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORICAL  AND  COMPARATIVE  THEOLOGY 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


THE  EPISTLES  TO   THE  COLOSSIANS 
AND  TO  THE  EPHESIANS 

GROSS    ALEXANDER 


THE  BIBLE    FOR   HOME    AND    SCHOOL 

SHAILER   MATHEWS,  General  Editor 

GENESIS 

By  Professor  H.  G.  Mitchell 

ACTS 

By  Professor  George  H.  Gilbert 

GALATIANS 

By  Professor  B.  W.  Bacon 

EPHESIANS  AND   COLOSSIANS 
By  Reverend  Gross  Alexander 

HEBREWS 

By  Professor  E.  J.  Goodspeed 

VOLUMES  IN  PREPARATION 

DEUTERONOMY 

By  Professor  W.  G.  Jordan 

I   SAMUEL 

By  Professor  L.  W.  Batten 

JUDGES 

By  Professor  Edward  L.  Curtis 

JOB 

By  Professor  George  A.  Barton 

PSALMS 

By  Reverend  J.  P.  Peters 

ISAIAH 

By  Professor  John  E.  McFadyen 
AMOS,    HOSEA,   AND   MICAH 

By  Professor  J.  M.  P.  Smith 

MARK 

By  Professor  M.  W.  Jacobus 

JOHN                                                                1 
By  Professor  Shailer  Mathews 

ROMANS 

By  Professor  E.  I.  Bosworth 

MATTHEW 

By  Professor  A.  T.  Robertson 

1 — — — 

THE  BIBLE  FOR  HOME  AND  SCHOOL 


THE 


EPISTLES  TO  THE  COLOSSIANS 
AND  TO  THE  EPHESIANS 


/ 


BY' 


GROSS  ALEXANDER,   S.T.D. 


'.;»,>   > 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1910 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  igio. 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  January,  igio. 


The  references  in  the  foot-notes  marked  **  S.V."  are  to  the  American  Standard 
Editip^^of  tjic  Revised  Bible.     Copyright,  1901,  by  Thomas  Nelson  &  Sons. 
•*  '  '  •     ••••!• 

;    .    /  '.PYjPttl^SfilO?!  OF  THE  PUBLISHERS. 


•«      • 


Nuttoooli  ^«8S 

J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


Zo 

THE   MEMORY 

OF  MY  BROTHER 

H.    CLAY   ALEXANDER 

A   GIFTED    SURGEON 

A   NOBLE   MAN 


235412 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction  to  Colossians i 

I.    The  Colossian  Church i 

II.    The  Occasion  of  the  Epistle 2 

III.  The  Authorship  and  Date 5 

IV.  Analysis  of  the  Epistle 6 

V.    Bibliography 8 

Text  and  Commentary .11 

Introduction  to  Ephesians 55 

I.    To  Whom  Addressed 55 

II.    Authorship  of  the  Epistle 56 

III.  Destination  and  Purpose  of  the  Epistle        .        .  58 

IV.  Analysis  of  the  Epistle 63 

V.    Bibliography .        .64 

Text  and  Commentary 67 

Note  I.  The  Relation  between  Colossians  and  Ephe- 
sians        127 

Note  II.    The    Relation    of    Ephesians   to    Other    New 

Testament  Books 12S 

Index 151 


vU 


COLOSSIANS 

GROSS   ALEXANDER 


»,«  ;  ' 


INTRODUCTION 

The  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  is  comparatively  brief ;  but 
it  is  unique  among  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
its  importance  and  value  are  out  of  all  proportion  to  its 
brevity.  In  consequence  of  the  difficulty  of  its  main  sub- 
ject and  the  obscurity  of  the  form  of  false  teaching  which 
it  was  intended  to  guard  against,  it  has  not  received  the 
attention  and  appreciation  to  which  it  is  entitled.  In  short, 
it  has  been  comparatively  neglected. 

I.  The  Colossian  Church 

•  The  church  at  the  city  of  Colossae  on  the  banks  of  the 
Lycus  in  Asia  Minor  was  not  founded  by  Paul ;  for  several 
passages  of  the  epistle  imply  that  he  had  never  seen  them, 
that  he  was  personally  unknown  to  them  (i  :  4  and  2:1). 
Moreover,  there  is  no  mention  of  a  visit  of  Paul  to  Colossae 
in  the  accounts  of  his  missionary  journeys  in  the  book  of 
Acts.  It  is  probable  that  the  founder  of  the  church  was 
Epaphras  (an  abbreviated  form  of  Epaphroditus).  This 
is  implied  in  i  :  7,  where  it  is  said,  "since  ye  heard  of  the  true 
grace  of  God,  even  as  ye  learned  it  of  Epaphras."  It  is 
likely  that  Epaphras  had  learned  it  from  Paul.  It  is  certain 
that  he  preached  Paul's  gospel.  In  several  passages  of 
the  epistle  Paul  strongly  expresses  his  approval  of  the  way 
that  Epaphras  had  taught  the  Colossians.  He  refers  to 
him  in  the  opening  paragraph  as  "our  beloved  fellow- 
servant,  who  is  a  faithful  minister  of  Christ  on  our  behalf." 
The  pronoun  here  used  practically  implies  that  Epaphras 
was  a  representative,  possibly  an  actual  appointee  of  Paul. 
As  to  the  complexion  of  the  church  at  Colossae,  it  was 

B  I 


INTRODUCTION 


evidently  composed  of  Gentiles.  This  is  indicated  by  the 
general  tone  and  tenor  of  the  epistle,  and  it  is  specifically 
implied  in  such  passages  as  i  :  21,  27,  and  2  :  13.  This  is 
not  disproved  by  the  fact  that  the  doctrines  of  the  false 
teachers  which  are  so  vigorously  opposed  in  the  epistle  were 
of  a  Jewish  character.  The  same  is  true  of  the  epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  though  it  is  certain  that  the  churches  in 
Galatia  were  composed  entirely  of  Gentiles. 

II.  The  Occasion  of  the  Epistle 

We  learn  from  the  epistle  itself  that  Epaphras  had  gone 
to  Rome  and  was  with  Paul  when  he  wrote  it,  for  in  4  :  12 
he  is  mentioned  as  one  of  those  who  send  greetings  to  the 
Colossians,  *^  Epaphras,  who  is  one  of  you,  saluteth  you.'* 
Doubtless  he  had  gone  to  Rome  for  the  very  purpose  of 
laying  before  Paul  '^the  state  of  the  church"  and  especially 
to  tell  him  of  the  danger  to  which  the  believers  there  were 
exposed  on  account  of  the  false  teachings  of  certain  propa- 
gandists of  some  new-fangled  system  which  they  were  trying 
to  persuade  them  to  accept  instead  of  the  gospel  as  they 
had  learned  it  from  Epaphras.  Paul  refers  to  them  in  2  :  4, 
where  he  says,  "Let  no  one  delude  you  with  persuasiveness 
of  speech."  Still  more  clear  and  specific  is  his  reference  to 
them  in  2  :  8,  "Take  heed  lest  there  shall  be  any  one  that 
maketh  spoil  of  you  through  his  philosophy  and  vain  deceit," 
and  in  2  :  18,  "Let  no  man  rob  you  of  your  prize  by  a  volun- 
tary humility  and  worshipping  of  the  angels  .  .  .  vainly 
puffed  up  by  his  fleshly  mind  and  not  holding  fast  the  Head." 

The  appearance  of  these  false  teachers  and  their  energetic 
efforts  to  seduce  the  Colossian  Christians  from  the  gospel 
they  had  heard  and  received  were  the  occasion  of  the  epistle; 
and  the  character  of  their  teachings  gives  the  key-note  to  the 
letter  and  furnishes  the  key  to  its  interpretation.  It  becomes 
important,  then,  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  what  this  new 
teaching  was. 

Bishop  Lightfoot  holds  that  it  was  a  form  of  Gnosticism 


INTRODUCTION 


with  Jewish  modifications;  and  he  makes  a  very  ingenious 
and  able  argument  in  support  of  this  view.  But  it  is  claimed 
by  later  writers  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  assume  the  presence 
of  Gnosticism  in  order  to  explain  the  contents  of  the  epistle. 
All  the  passages  and  references  which,  according  to  Light- 
foot,  require  the  assumption  of  Gnostic  teaching  can  be 
explained,  it  is  claimed,  by  what  we  know  of  the  views  that 
were  prevalent  among  the  Jews  of  that  day  concerning  an- 
gels. The  New  Testament  is  itself,  in  large  part,  the  source 
of  this  knowledge.  What  is  there  said  will  be  a  matter  of 
surprise  to  one  who  has  never  had  occasion  to  look  up  the 
various  references  and  put  them  together;  but  it  is  not 
necessary  to  cite  them  here. 

As  Lightfoot  and  those  who  follow  him,  as  Moule  and 
others,  have  doubtless  made  too  much  of  Gnosticism  in 
their  setting  and  interpretation  of  the  epistle,  those  who 
reject  that  view  have  erred,  and  very  naturally,  in  going  too 
far  in  the  other  direction  and  have  made  too  much  of  their 
angelology  and  angelolatry.  They  even  go  so  far  as  to  hold 
that  ''the  elements  of  the  world,"  referred  to  by  Paul  in  Col. 
2  :  8,  are  "the  elemental  spirits  which  animate  all  material 
things  and  are  so  called  from  the  elements  which  they  ani- 
mate"; and  they  are  called  ''dominions,  principalities, 
powers,"  etc.,  from  their  sphere  of  authority.  (See  Peake's 
Commentary  on  Colossians  in  the  Expositor's  Greek  Testa- 
ment and  the  article  by  Massie  on  "Elements"  in  Hastings' 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible.) 

If  Lightfoot  and  his  followers  are  too  specific  and  explicit 
on  the  one  hand,  the  angelologists  are  too  explicit  and 
specific  on  the  other.  They  all  know  too  much.  Chrysos- 
tom  somewhere  says  that  it  is  often  wiser  not  to  know 
than  to  know,  the  aptness  and  force  of  which  one  can  appre- 
ciate when  reading  Peake  and  Massie.  The  following  state- 
ment is  about  as  definite  as  can  be  safely  risked,  and  it 
probably  gives  the  correct  view:  The  false  system  which 
was  promulgated  at  Colossae  and  which  Paul  so  vigorously 
and  so  vehemently  opposed  was  on  its  doctrinal  side  a 


INTRODUCTION 


mixture  of  Jewish  Kabbalistic  views  with  current  oriental 
speculation  and  theosophy,  of  which  Asia  Minor  was  and 
had  been  a  hotbed  from  the  time  whereof  the  memory  of 
man  ran  not  to  the  contrary.  It  appears  to  have  taught 
the  mediation  of  angels  and  other  mysterious  powers  of  the 
unseen  world  in  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  giving  of  the 
law,  the  work  of  redemption,  and  the  processes  of  salvation ; 
and  so  it  obscured,  if  it  did  not  exclude,  Christ  altogether. 

On  its  practical  side,  it  combined  a  merciless  asceticism 
(Col.  2  :  23)  and  a  strict  observance  of  Jewish  rites  (2  :  11, 
16)  with  the  worship  of  angels  (2  :  18)  and  an  arrogant 
claim  to  special  and  superior  enlightenment  (2  :  8,  18).  Its 
one  special  danger  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  obscured  or  even 
denied  the  unique  glory  of  Christ,  the  ground  and  agent  and 
goal  of  creation,  and  the  sole  mediator  through  faith  in  whom 
the  Christian  was  delivered  from  under  the  power  of  dark- 
ness (i  :  13),  raised  into  newness  of  life  (3  :  i),  and  made 
partaker  of  his  glory  (3  :  4). 

Any  attempt  to  go  further  than  this,  to  fix  definitely  the 
false  teaching,  to  identify  it  with  any  one  definite  system,  or 
to  give  it  a  single  specific  name  is  attended  with  difficulties 
and  sure  to  be  misleading. 

At  any  rate  the  character  of  the  heresy  and  the  serious 
danger  which  it  threatened  were  such  as  to  make  it  neces- 
sary for  Paul,  the  tireless  watchman  of  the  infant  Church, 
to  make  an  explicit,  strong,  full,  formal  statement  of  the 
supremacy  of  Christ,  —  of  his  relation  to  God,  to  creation,  to 
the  universe,  and  to  the  Church.  That  is  the  theme  of  the 
epistle.  It  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  other  epistles 
that  the  Fourth  Gospel  bears  to  the  other  Gospels.  It  is 
the  Christological  epistle  as  that  is  the  Christological  gospel. 

A  heresy  doctrinally  and  substantially  similar  to  that 
which  made  it  necessary  to  write  the  Colossian  epistle  and 
to  make  the  statement  and  exposition  there  found  of  the 
supremacy  of  Christ,  made  it  necessary  to  write  the  Fourth 
Gospel  in  order  to  set  forth  the  God-consciousness  and 
supremacy  of  Jesus  as  there  found. 


INTRODUCTION 


This  does  not  mean  that  Paul  had  developed  a  new  view 
and  doctrine  of  Christ,  different  from  that  which  he  pre- 
viously held  and  taught.  By  no  means.  We  know  from 
his  previous  epistles  that  he  held  all  along  substantially  the 
view  of  Christ  which  he  states  and  expounds  in  Colossians. 
If  any  one  doubts  this,  let  him  read  carefully  Gal.  i  :  i6; 
2  :  20;  Rom.  I  :  3,  4;  i  Cor.  8:6;  2  Cor.  4:4;  8:9; 
Phil.  2  :  6,  9-1 1.  In  all  these  passages  he  assumes  the 
supremacy  of  Christ  as  a  matter  of  course. 

The  last  passage  is  here  cited  with  the  others  because, 
though  it  was  not  written  as  long  before  Colossians  as  the 
other  epistles  quoted,  it  was  written  without  any  polemical 
purpose  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  manifest  that  it  ex- 
pressed the  view  of  Christ  which  was  taken  for  granted,  not 
only  by  Paul  himself,  but  by  the  churches  which  he  had 
founded  or  taught.  There  is  not  in  the  passage  a  word  or  a 
suggestion  which  would  betray  that  this  view  of  Christ  was 
new  or  strange  to  Paul  or  his  readers.  The  self-evident  reason 
why  he  did  not  make  in  the  previous  epistles  an  express  and 
formal  statement  of  the  deity  and  supremacy  of  Christ  is 
precisely  this,  that  it  was  universally  accepted  and  so  no 
occasion  had  then  arisen  for  it,  as  had  now  arisen  in  the 
Colossian  church  by  reason  of  the  presence  and  teachings 
there  of  those  who  sought  to  ignore,  obscure,  or  deny  the 
deity  of  Paul's  Lord  and  Christ.  This  consideration,  let  it 
be  said  incidentally,  is  sufficient  to  refute  the  notion  of  some 
few  (as  Holtzmann,  Von  Soden,  etc.)  that  the  Christological 
passages  of  our  epistle  were  not  written  by  Paul. 

III.  Authorship  and  Date 

Indeed,  the  epistle  is  so  characteristically  and  evidently 
Pauline  that  it  is  now  accepted  as  Paul's  with  practical 
unanimity  among  the  best  scholars.  To  undertake  to 
show  exhaustively  that  it  is  Pauline,  in  its  point  of  view, 
its  fundamental  conceptions,  its  spirit,  its  style,  its 
grammatical  peculiarities,  its  figures,  and,  in  view  of  its 

5 


INTRODUCTION 


date  and  subject-matter,  even  in  its  vocabulary,  would  b 
to  quote  practically  the  whole  epistle  and  to  anticipate  th 
exposition. 

As  to  place  and  date,  the  epistle  was  certainly  written  at 
Rome  and  probably  in  the  year  62  or  63.  Jiilicher,  who  is 
by  no  means  a  conservative,  but  who  is  recognized  as  per- 
haps the  foremost  living  writer  on  New  Testament  Intro- 
duction, says  {Introduction  to  the  New  Testament ^  p.  131), 
"We  must  assign  a  common  date  to  Philemon,  Colossians, 
and  Ephesians,  and  in  all  probability  Paul  wrote  them  at 
Rome  in  the  year  62  or  63." 

IV.  Analysis  of  the  Epistle 

Structural  symmetry  and  regular  logical  arrangement 
are  hardly  to  be  expected  in  a  letter;  but  it  may  be 
helpful,  in  tracing  the  course  of  the  Apostle's  thought,  to 
have  a  general  outline  of  the  contents  of  the  epistle, 
something  like  this: 

I.   The  Salutation  (i  :  i,  2). 

II.  Thanksgiving  for  the  cheering  news  brought  to  him 
by  Epaphras  of  their  participation  in  the  bless- 
ings of  the  universal  gospel,  their  faith  in 
Christ,   and  their  love  toward  all   Christians 

(I  :  ^-^)-  ,         ^ 

III.  The  assurance  of  his  unceasing  prayer  that  they 

might  have  complete  knowledge  of  the  will  of 
God  in  order  that  they  might  live  in  a  manner 
that  would  in  all  things  be  pleasing  to  him 
(i  :  9-14).  ^       ^ 

IV.  The  relations  of  him  through  whom  they  have  re- 

ceived and  experienced  the  blessings  of  re- 
demption, to  God,  to  the  universe,  and  to  the 
Church  (i  :  15-20),  and  this  in  implied  contrast 
with  the  fictitious  angelic  mediators : 
I.  He  is  the  visible  manifestation  of  the  invisible 
God  (i  :  15a). 

6 


INTRODUCTION 


2.  He  not  only  existed  prior  to  creation,  he  is  the 

ground,  and  the  agent  and  the  goal  of  creation, 
as  he  is  the  head  and  upholder  of  the  universe 
(i  :  I5b-i7). 

3.  He  is  the  head  also  of  the  new  spiritual  creation, 

the  Church  (i  :  18). 

4.  He  is  the  embodiment  of  the  totality  of  the  attri- 

butes and  powers  of  deity  (i  :  19). 

5.  He  is  the  one  mediator  through  whom  God  recon- 

ciles all  beings  and  things  in  the  universe  unto 
himself  (i  :  20). 
V.  The  actual  experience  of  reconciliation  on  the  part  of 
the  Colossians  and  the  meaning  and  purpose  of 
it  (i  :  2i-23a). 
VI.  This  leads  up  to  a  statement  of  PauPs  personal 
agency   in   the   reconciliation   of   the    Gentile 
world  to  God  (i  :  23b-29). 
VII.   The  emptiness  and  futility  of  the  false  teaching  in  con- 
trast with  the  all-sufficiency  of  Christ  (2  :  1-23). 

1.  Paul's  agony  of  anxiety  for  them  in  view  of  the 

danger  they  were  in  (2  :  1-8). 

2.  The  absolute  fulness  of  Christ  (2  :  9)  and  the 

full  provision  for  all  their  needs  in  him  (2  :  10- 

3.  This  in  contrast  with  the  absolute  emptiness  of 

the  so-called  ''philosophy^'  of  the  theosophists 
(2  :  8)  and  the  absolute  futility  of  all  those 
observances,  practices,  and  asceticisms  which 
they  imposed  (2  :  16-23). 
VIII.  What  is  involved  in  their  experience  of  having  died 
with  Christ  to  the  world  (2  :  20)  and  having 
been  raised  with  him  into  new  life  (3  :  1-17). 

1.  Heavenly-mindedness,      "Seek     heaven,      think 

heaven"  (3  :  1-4). 

2.  Things  to  be  abandoned  for  good  and  all  (3  :  5- 

II). 

3.  Things  to  be  made  part  of  character  (3  :  12-17). 

7 


INTRODUCTION 


IX.  Social  relations,  especially  domestic  relations,  to  be 
regulated  in  accordance  with  our  subjection  to 
Jesus  as  Lord  (3  :  18-4  :  i). 

1.  Wives  to  be  in  subjection  to  their  husbands  (3  : 

18). 

2.  Husbands  to  love  their  wives  (3  :  19). 

3.  Children   to    be  obedient    to  their   parents   (3  : 

20). 

4.  Fathers  to  be  patient  and  kind  to  their  children 

(3  •  21). 

5.  Slaves  to  render  hearty  obedience  to  their  masters 

(3  :  22-25). 

6.  Masters  to  treat  their  slaves  with  justice  and 

equality  (4  :  i). 
X.   Practical  instructions  (4  :  2-6). 

1.  Perseverance  in  prayer  (4  :  2-4). 

2.  Their  conduct  and  bearing  toward  those  who  were 

not  believers  (4:5,  6). 
XI.   Conclusion  (4  :  7-18). 

1.  The  mission  and  messages  of  Tychicus  and  Ones- 

imus  (4  :  7-9). 

2.  Greetings  from  Paul  and  those  brethren  who  were 

with  him  at  Rome  (4  :  10-17). 

3.  Paul's  own  personal  good-by  written  with  his  own 

manacled  hand  (4  :  18). 


Bibliography 

LiGHTFOOT,  J.  B.     Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians. 
New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

His  interpretation    is   too  much  influenced  by  his  view  that 
the  Colossian  heresy  was  Gnosticism.     Still,  he  is  great.     But 
see  Hort's  Judaistic  Christianity,  pp.  120  ff. 
Peake,  a.  S.     The  Epistle  of    Paul  to   the  Colossians.     The  Ex- 
positor's Greek  Testament.     New  York.     Dodd,  Mead  &  Co. 

A  little  diffuse,  of  unequal  value  in  different  parts,  but  on  the 
whole  very  good.  He  defends  the  theory  of  the  Jewish  angel 
hierarchy  as  against  Gnosticism.  But  he  pushes  the  theory  too 
far  and  proves  nothing  by  proving  too  much. 

8 


INTRODUCTION 


Abbott,  T.  K.  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Colossians.  The  International  Critical  Commentary. 
New  York.     Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

Abbott  is  very  good,  but  his  matter  and  style  are  both  cumber- 
some. His  Commentary  is  a  haystack,  but  there  are  many  fine 
needles  in  it,  if  one  can  spare  the  time  to  find  them. 

Meyer,  H.  A.  W.  Critical  and  Exegetical  Handbook  to  the  Epistle 
to  the  Colossians.  Enghsh  translation.  New  York.  Funk  & 
Wagnalls  Co. 

Meyer  is  always  great.  He  has  done  more  for  the  exegesis  of 
the  New  Testament  than  any  other  one  man  in  ancient  or  modern 
times.  All  who  have  come  after  him  are  indebted  to  him.  It 
is  easy  to  trace  his  influence  through  them  all.  He  never  dodges 
or  shirks.  He  always  faces  the  problem  squarely.  In  this  sense 
you  can  say  of  Meyer  what  Paul  says  of  charity  —  he  never 
faileth.  But  he  is  not  infallible.  He  does  not  always  give  the 
right  interpretation.  In  Colossians,  for  example,  he  is  too  much 
influenced  by  the  eschatological  point  of  view  —  the  parousia,  etc. 

A.  Maclaren.  The  Epistle  to  the  Colossians.  The  Expositor's 
Bible.     New  York. 

The  qualities  that  make  this  work  a  delight  are  spiritual  in- 
sight, ample  scholarship,  evangelical  spirit,  lucid  exposition, 
literary  charm. 

Eadie,  John.  Commentary  on  the  Greek  Text  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Colossians.     Edinburgh,  1884. 

Klopper,  a.     Der  Brief  an  die  Kolosser.    Berlin,  1882. 

Beet,  J.  A.  Commentary  on  Ephesians,  Philippians,  Colossians, 
and  Philemon.    London,  1890. 

Barry,  A.     See  bibliography  on  Ephesians. 

MouLE,  H.  G.  C.     See  bibliography  on  Ephesians. 

Oltramare,  H.     See  bibliography  on  Ephesians. 

Von  Soden,  H.     See  bibliography  on  Ephesians. 

Haupt.     Colossians  in  latest  edition  of  Meyer. 

See  article  on  Colossians  in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible 
and  sections  on  Colossians  in  the  N.  T.  Introduction  of  Zahn, 
Jiilicher,  etc.  See  also  treatment  of  Colossians  in  history  of 
Apostolic  Age  by  Weizsacker,  and  by  McGiffert. 

HoLTZMAN,  H.  J.,  as  in  bibliography  of  Ephesians.     Works  on  New 
Testament  Theology  as  under  Ephesians. 
See  also  especially  Denney,  Jesus  and  the  Gospel,  pp.  31-36. 


THE    EPISTLE   TO   THE 
COLOSSIANS 

I.  The  Salutation,  i  :  i,  2 

1.  Paul,  ^an  apostle  of  Christ  Jesus  ^through  the  will  of  1:1 

2.  God,  ^and  Timothy  *  our  brother,  ^^to  the  saints  and 

»  Gr.  the  brother.  »  Or,  to  those  that  are  at  Colossa,  holy  and  faithful  brethren  in 
Christ 

The  Theme  of  the  Epistle:    The  Deity ^  the  Supremacy ^  and  tJte  All- 
sufficiency  of  Jesus  Christ 

1.  An  apostle.  This  is  the  word  by  which  Paul  designates  himself 
in  all  his  epistles  except  i  and  2  Thes.,  at  the  time  of  the  writing  of 
which  he  had  not  come  into  a  consciousness  of  the  full  significance 
of  his  position  as  it  was  later  brought  home  to  him  by  outward  events 
and  inward  experiences;  and  Phil,  and  Philem.,  both  of  which  were 
letters  of  personal  friendship  rather  than  of&cial  communications. 
Through  the  will  of  God.  Through  an  act  of  God's  selection  and 
appointment,  which  was  an  expression  of  his  will.  This  also  is  usual, 
though  not  invariable,  in  Paul's  salutations.  It  was  intended  to  indi- 
cate the  divine  source  of  his  commission,  to  justify  his  going  before 
men  with  such  a  message  as  his  was,  and  to  give  weight  to  his  authority 
especially  among  those  who  composed  the  churches.  This  was  much 
needed,  for  example,  at  Colossae,  as  we  shall  see.  And  Timothy. 
Who  was  with  Paul  in  prison  at  Rome,  as  is  shown  by  the  similar 
greeting  in  Phil,  and  Philem. 

2.  To  the  saints  and  faithful  brethren  in  Christ.  This  rendering 
takes  the  adjective  which  means  holy  as  a  noun  and  translates  it 
saints,  which  is  quite  in  accordance  with  Paul's  usage.  But  as  it  is 
here  closely  coupled  with  another  adjective,  nsunely,  faithful,  it  is 
better  to  render  it  as  in  the  margin,  or  still  better,  to  the  holy  and 

II 


COLOSSIANS 


faithful  brethren  in  Christ  which  are  at  Colossae :  ^Grace 
to  you  and  peace  from  God  our  Father. 

II.  Thanksgiving  for  the  Cheering  News  of  their 
Faith  and  Love,  1:3-8 

3.  ^We  give  thanks  to  God  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 

4.  Christ,  Spraying  always  for  you,  ^having  heard  of  your 
faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  of  the  love  which  ye  have 

5.  toward  all  the  saints,  ^because  of  the  hope  which  is  laid 


faithful  brethren  in  Christ  who  are  at  Colossce.  In  other  places  where 
the  word  here  translated  saints  is  joined  with  another  adjective,  it  is 
taken  as  an  adjective  and  is  translated  holy.  See  i  :  22 ;  3  :  12 ;  Eph. 
I  :  4.  Grace  to  you  and  peace.  This  is  exactly  the  order  of  the 
words  in  Greek.  Here  grace  is  "the  merciful  kindness  in  virtue  of 
which  God  exercises  his  holy  influence  upon  the  souls  of  believers, 
keeps  and  strengthens  them  in  Christian  faith,  knowledge,  and  love, 
and  moves  them  to  the  practice  of  all  Christian  virtues."  Peace  is 
"the  tranquillity  of  a  soul  assured  of  its  salvation  through  Christ  and 
so  fearing  nothing  from  God,  and  content  with  its  earthly  lot  of  what- 
soever sort  that  may  be." 

3.  We  give  thanks.  It  was  Paul's  all  but  invariable  habit,  when 
writing  either  to  a  church  or  an  individual,  to  express  his  gratitude 
to  God  for  their  faith  and  love.  He  did  this,  not  because  it  was  a 
habit,  but  because  he  was  so  deeply  in  earnest  in  extending  the 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  among  men  and  bringing  them  to  salvation 
that  he  was  overjoyed  when  he  got  good  news  from  them  —  and  he 
poured  out  his  heart  in  thanksgiving.  Praying  always  for  you. 
The  word  always  can  better  be  taken  with  give  thanks;  the  rendering 
then  would  be:  We  always  give  thanks  to  God  when  we  pray  for  you. 

4.  Having  heard.  Since  the  time  when  we  heard.  Of  your  faith 
.  .  .  and  the  love.  Their  love  was  the  effect  of  their  faith  and  a  proof 
of  the  genuineness  of  it.  This  is  essentially  the  principle  which  under- 
lies what  is  said  in  i  John  3  :  14,  "We  know  we  have  passed  from 
death  unto  life  because  we  love  the  brethren."  Their  love  was  a  proof 
of  their  regeneration,  and  their  regeneration  was  the  effect  of  their  faith. 

5.  Because  of  the  hope.  If  these  words  were  taken  with  those  which 
immediately  precede,  it  would  mean  that  their  heavenly  reward  was 
the  motive  of  their  love,  i.e.^  they  had  love  because  they  were  going  to 
be  rewarded  for  it,  which  would  be  to  assign  a  selfish  motive  for  that 
which  is  the  essence  of  unselfishness  —  love.    This  would  be  self- 

12 


COLOSSIANS 


i8. 


up  for  you  in  the  heavens,  ^whereof  ye  heard  before 
6.   °in  the  word  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  °which  is  come   Jn.  17 :  17; 
unto  you;    even  as  it  is  also  in  all  the  world  ^bearing  jxiin. 2!^' 
fruit  and  increasing,  °as  it  doth  in  you  also,  °since  the   is;  Jas.  1: 
day  ye  heard  °and  knew  the  grace  of  God  °in  truth; 

contradictory.  These  words  because  of  the  hope  are  to  be  taken  with 
we  give  thanks  and  the  meaning  is  this:  We  thank  God  that  there  is  a 
glorious  reward  laid  up  for  those  who  have  such  faith  and  love  as  we 
have  heard  you  have.  Whereof  ye  heard  before.  Of  which  hope 
you  heard  when  the  gospel  was  first  preached  to  you  by  Epaphras. 
In  the  word  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel.  The  proclamation  of  the 
glorious  hope  was  a  part  of  the  message  which  was  contained  in  the 
true  gospel  which  you  have  heard. 

6.  Which  is  come  unto  you;  even  as  it  is  also  in  all  the  world. 
The  gospel  which  was  preached  to  the  Colossians  at  the  first  by  Epa- 
phras was  not  that  perverted  caricature  of  it  which  was  taught  in  that 
particular  locality  by  certain  false  teachers;  it  was  the  true  gospel, 
the  same  which  had  been  preached  everywhere  in  the  world.  Bear- 
ing fruit  and  increasing.  It  was  not  only  preached  everywhere  in 
the  world,  it  was  everywhere  vindicating  itself  by  the  way  it  was 
bearing  fruit  and  extending  its  widening  influence,  by  its  inner  work- 
ing and  its  outward  extension.  ''The  gospel  is  not  like  plants  that 
exhaust  themselves  in  bearing  fruit  and  then  wither  away."  And 
its  external  extension  is  in  keeping  with  its  internal  vitality.  As  it 
doth  in  you  also.  Before,  he  had  said  the  gospel  had  come  to  them; 
here  he  says  it  was  bearing  fruit  and  increasing  among  them.  It  was 
the  true  and  the  ecumenical  gospel  they  had  received  formerly  from 
Epaphras,  and  it  was,  according  to  the  report  that  Epaphras  had 
brought  him,  also  producing  fruit  among  them  and  diffusing  itself 
through  them,  as  everywhere  else  it  was  doing.  Since  the  day  ye 
heard.  Both  the  fruits  and  the  progress  of  the  gospel  had  been  con- 
tinuous among  the  Colossians  since  the  day  they  heard  its  glad 
tidings.  And  knew  the  grace  of  God.  Not  only  had  they  heard  it, 
they  understood  it,  they  had  apprehended  it  in  its  true  sense  as  a 
message  of  the  free  grace  of  God,  and  not  a  system  of  outward  observ- 
ances and  of  self-imposed  asceticisms,  such  as  the  false  teachers  were 
trying  to  introduce.  Just  as  the  Galatians  had  been  tempted  by  in- 
truding theological  vagabonds  to  substitute  obsolete  rites  and  out- 
ward forms  for  the  gospel  of  God's  grace  and  the  grace  of  God's 
gospel,  and  so  had  "fallen  from  grace"  (Gal.  5  :  4),  even  so  at  Colossal 
a  school  of  theological  heresy  peddlers  were  trying  to  draw  away 
believers  from  the  gospel  of  grace  and  the  grace  of  the  gospel  to  a 
system  of  ascetic  practices  and  outward  observances.     In  truth. 

13 


COLOSSIANS 


7.  ^even  as  ye  learned  of  Epaphras  our  beloved  fellow- 
servant,  who  is  a  faithful  minister  of  Christ  °on  ^our 

8.  behalf,  °who  also  declared  unto  us  °your  love  in  the 
Spirit. 

III.  The  Assurance  of  his  Prayer  for  them,  i  :  9--14 

9.  °For  this  cause  we  also,  since  the  day  we  heard  it, 
do  not  cease  °to  pray  and  make  request  for  you,  °that 

*  Many  ancient  authorities  read  your. 

The  emphasis  with  which  Paul  insists  that  they  had  heard  the  true 
gospel  implies  his  hitherto  unexpressed  sense  of  the  presence  at 
Colossae  of  a  false  system  and  false  teachers. 

7.  Even  as  ye  learned  of  Epaphras.  Paul  cannot  be  too  explicit 
and  emphatic  in  assuring  them  that  the  gospel  which  they  had  heard 
and  accepted  was  the  true  gospel,  the  only  gospel;  and  now  still 
more  narrowly  to  identify  it  he  adds:  It  is  the  very  gospel  that  Epa- 
phras taught  you.  Epaphras  is  here  in  prison  with  me  now  as  I 
write  these  words  (cf.  4:12  and  Philem.  23).  He  has  told  me  all 
about  the  gospel  he  preached  to  you  and  all  about  the  fruits  it  has 
produced  among  you.  On  our  behalf.  The  reading  our  is  better 
attested  than  your,  and  it  means  that  Epaphras  in  his  ministry  had 
accomplished  a  work  that  was  in  accord  with  and  furtherance  of 
Paul's  mission  as  apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  It  is  more  than  possible 
that  he  had  himself  been  converted  under  Paul's  ministry. 

8.  Who  also  declared  unto  us.  Here  Paul  declares  in  so  many 
words  that  it  was  from  their  own  evangelist  and  pastor  that  he  had 
gotten  at  first  hand  the  knowledge  of  the  situation  in  the  Colossian 
church  which  called  forth  this  epistle.  Your  love  in  the  Spirit.  This 
is  a  testimony  to  that  supernatural  spiritual  love  which  was  one  of 
the  fruits  of  the  gospel  at  Colossae;  and  it  is  here  distinguished  from 
any  kind  of  natural  human  love  by  the  expression,  in  the  Spirit. 

9.  For  this  cause.  Because  of  the  good  news  which  Paul  had 
received  through  Epaphras  concerning  the  Colossian  believers.  This 
refers  probably  to  all  that  precedes  from  verse  4.  To  pray  and  make 
request  for  you.  The  former  is  the  general  word  for  prayer,  the  latter 
is  specific.  It  is  here  followed  by  the  mention  of  the  specific  thing 
which  Paul  specifically  asks  for  them,  namely,  that  ye  may  be  filled 
with  the  knowledge  of  his  will.  Literally  translated  these  words 
mean,  that  ye  may  be  filled  as  to,  in  respect  to,  the  knowledge,  etc. ; 
that  is,  that  your  knowledge  of  his  will  may  be  full,  or,  that  you  may 

14 


COLOSSIANS  1 :  10 


ye  may  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  °of  his  will  °in 
lo.   all  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding,  °to  walk  worth- 
ily of  the  Lord  °^unto   all  pleasing,    ^bearing  fruit 

»  Or,  unto  all  pleasing,  in  every  good  work,  bearing  fruit  and  increasing  6*c. 

have  full  knowledge  of  his  will.  The  words  "fill,"  "filling,"  "fulness," 
are  used  with  striking  frequency  in  this  and  the  epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians.  One  reason  probably  is  that  Paul  himself  had  doubtless 
reached  a  richer,  fuller  stage  of  spiritual  experience  at  this  time.  He 
certainly  says  in  Phil.  3  :  12  that  he  was  pressing  on.  What  he 
teaches  in  these  later  epistles,  what  he  exhorts  his  readers  to  seek,  and 
what  he  prays  for  for  them  was  doubtless  the  reflex  of  his  own  deep- 
ening experience.  This  consideration  will  afford  much  help  in  the  in- 
terpretation of  his  words.  The  word  here  used  by  Paul  for  knowledge 
is  stronger  than  the  simple,  ordinary  word.  It  signifies  knowledge 
that  is  true  and  thorough.  "  Knowledge  which  grasps  and  penetrates 
its  object"  (Meyer);  "it  is  precise  and  correct  knowledge"  (Thayer). 
The  simple  word  and  the  stronger  word  are  used  in  order  in  i  Cor. 
13  :  12,  "Now  I  know  in  part,  but  then  I  shall  know,"  etc.  The 
simple  word  in  Rom.  i  :  21,  the  stronger  word  in  Rom.  i  :  28.  Of 
his  will.  The  ability  always  to  discern  and  interpret  the  will  of  God 
in  one's  inner  experiences  and  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life  more 
than  anything  else  marks  and  measures  the  differences  among  men 
in  respect  to  their  real  ethical  and  spiritual  state  and  character. 
Hence  the  insistent  emphasis  that  Paul  everywhere  puts  on  knowing 
the  will  of  God.  See  Rom.  12:2;  Eph.  5  :  10,  17;  compare  also  Jn. 
7  :  17  and  Heb.  5  :  14.  In  all  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding. 
That  is,  consisting  in  or  manifesting  itself  in.  The  word  "spiritual " 
belongs  to  both  nouns.  "Wisdom"  is  the  general  word  and  means 
knowledge  of  practical  affairs  applied  to  practical  ends,  while  "under- 
standing" is  more  specific  and  means  that  close  discernment  which 
sees  the  relative  bearings  and  implications  of  things.  Literally,  it 
means  a  bringing  or  putting  things  together,  instead  of  seeing  each  one 
in  isolation  and  without  relation. 

10.  To  walk  worthily  of  the  Lord.  Their  being  filled  with  knowl- 
edge of  the  will  of  God  and  with  all  wisdom  and  understanding  was 
not  an  end  in  itself.  It  had  another  and  an  intensely  practical  end  : 
it  was  in  order  to  right  living,  high  living,  living  that  would  do  no 
dishonor  to,  but  be  worthy  of,  the  Lord  himself.  To  have  knowledge 
and  discernment  is  not  character;  to  live  in  a  manner  worthy  of  him 
who  is  our  Lord  is.  Unto  all  pleasing,  so  as  to  please  him,  not  in  some 
things  and  in  some  ways,  as  nearly  everybody  does,  but  in  every  way 
and   in  everything,   as   Paul   did.     Bearing  fruit.    This   participle 

IS 


COLOSSIANS 


°in  every  good  work,  °and  increasing  Mn  the  knowledge 

11.  of  God;   °  ^ strengthened  ^  with  all  power,  ^according 
to  the  might  of  his  glory,  °unto  all  patience  and  long- 

12.  suffering  °with   joy;   ^giving  thanks  unto  the  Father, 

*  Or,  by  '  Gr.  made  powerftil.  3  Or,  in 

and  the  three  which  follow  define  four  ways  in  which  they  are  to  live 
worthily  of  the  Lord  and  to  please  God.  In  every  good  work.  This 
defines  the  way  in  which  they  are  to  bear  fruit,  namely,  in  every  form 
of  good  work.  It  includes  all  outward  activity.  And  increasing  in 
the  knowledge  of  God.  This  refers  to  progress  in  the  inner  life  which 
may  all  be  comprehended  in  the  expanding  knowledge  of  God.  As 
was  to  be  expected,  the  stronger  word  for  knowledge  is  here  used. 
The  participle  may  be  more  closely  related  to  the  preceding  one, 
hearing  fruity  than  with  the  two  following ;  that  is,  it  may  be  in  a  way 
subordinate  to  it  with  this  meaning :  Bearing  fruit  in  every  form  of 
good  work  and  so,  by  that  means,  increasing  in  the  knowledge  of  God. 
"If  any  man  wills  to  do  his  will  he  shall  know,"  etc.  Obedience  is,  at 
least,  an  organ  of  knowledge. 

11.  Strengthened  with  all  power.  This  participle  has  a  certain 
hortatory  force  from  the  preceding  context,  as  the  other  participles 
in  this  group  have;  and  so  it  is  middle  rather  than  passive  voice,  and 
it  means  "getting  yourselves  strengthened"  or  at  any  rate,  "letting 
yourselves  be  strengthened."  At  the  same  time  that  you  bear  fruit 
and  increase  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  you  are  to  get  yourself  continu- 
ally strengthened  or  to  let  yourself  be  continually  strengthened,  or, 
more  strictly,  empowered  or  made  powerful  (as  the  margin)  with  all 
the  power  that  is  available,  all  the  power  that  God  has  to  give.  Ac- 
cording to  the  might  of  his  glory.  That  is,  power  is  to  be  supplied  in 
a  manner  correspondent  with  the  might  that  befits  the  glory  of  God. 
Unto  all  patience  and  longsuffering.  This  equipment  with  divine 
power  is  not,  as  we  might  have  expected,  said  to  be  given  with  a  view 
to  deeds  of  prowess  and  heroism,  but  for  the  practice  of  the  passive 
virtue  of  patient  endurance  and  perseverance  as  opposed  to  cowardice 
or  despondency,  and  humble  meekness  and  forbearance  as  opposed  to 
retaliation  or  revenge.  These  really  put  the  greater  strain  on  the 
Christian's  strength,  while  the  possession  and  exemplification  of 
them  work  a  deeper  impression  and  conviction  in  its  beholders  than 
brilliant  deeds  of  heroism.  With  joy.  And  all  this  not  in  a  spirit  of 
sourness  or  sullenness,  but  of  joyfulness.  For  this  they  would  need 
the  empowering  that  God  works,  but  it  would  be  a  demonstration  of 
overcoming  the  world. 

12.  Giving  thanks  unto  the  Father.    This  is  the  last  of  the  four 

i6 


COLOSSIANS 


°who  made  ^  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance 

13.  %f  the  saints  in  light;   °who  delivered  us  out  of  the 
power  of  darkness,  °and  translated  us  into  the  king- 

14.  dom  of  the  Son  of  his  love;   °in  whom  we  have  our 
redemption,  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins : 

*  Some  ancient  authorities  read  you, 

ways  in  which  they  are  to  walk  worthily  of  the  Lord  and  to  please  him. 
He  here  calls  God  the  Father  in  order  to  stimulate  thanksgiving  by 
reminding  the  Colossians  of  what  he  is  to  them,  as  he  does  in  the  words 
immediately  following  by  reminding  them  of  what  he  has  done  for  them, 
namely,  who  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance.  We  may 
well  be  thankful  to  him  who  is  our  Father,  to  him  who  has  fitted  us 
for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints,  as  he  has  fitted  the  inheritance  for 
us  (verse  5).  Of  the  saints  in  light.  The  phrase  in  light  seems  to  be 
in  a  sense  local  —  the  lot  of  the  saints  which  is  in  the  realm  of  light. 

13.  Who  delivered  us  out  of  the  power  of  darkness.  This  and  the 
following  clause  define  how  the  Father  qualified  us  for  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  and  so  add  other  reasons  for  thankfulness  to  him.  The 
preceding  mention  of  light  suggests  the  darkness  of  their  pre-Christian 
condition.  But  not  only  had  they  been  in  a  state  of  moral  darkness, 
they  were  in  a  sense  under  the  power  of  darkness  (cf.  Lk.  22  :  53). 
This  vivid  way  of  conceiving  darkness  as  a  power  Jesus  had  used. 
And  translated  us  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  his  love.  But  the 
Father  had  done  more  than  deliver  them  out  of,  he  transported  them 
into.  Or,  to  speak  more  exactly,  he  delivered  them  from  under  one 
dominion  and  brought  them  under  another.  For  there  is  here  not 
only  the  antithesis  of  darkness  and  light;  there  is  also  the  antithesis 
between  one  dominion  and  another  —  the  dominion  of  darkness,  the 
dominion  (kingdom)  of  him  who  is  the  Son  of  the  Father's  love. 
This  antithesis  is  stated  with  greater  clearness  by  Paul  in  his  address 
before  King  Agrippa  (Acts  26  :  18).  The  double  antithesis  is  well 
brought  out  by  Lightfoot:  "We  were  slaves  in  the  realm  of  darkness; 
God  the  Father  rescued  us  from  this  thraldom.  He  transported  us 
thence  and  settled  us  as  free  citizens  in  the  kingdom  of  his  Son  —  the 
realm  of  light." 

14.  In  whom  we  have  our  redemption.  The  clauses  of  the  preced- 
ing verse  contain  a  description  of  the  actual  experience  of  the  Colos- 
sians (and  Paul:  note  the  first  person  plural).  In  this  verse  he  presents 
their  deliverance  as  redemption,  gives  the  ground  of  that  redemption, 
and  further  identifies  it  as  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins.  Our  redemp- 
tion is  grounded  in  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Father's  love ;  and  it  is  actu- 
alized in  individual  experience  in  the  consciousness  of  forgiveness. 

c  17 


COLOSSIANS 


IV.  The  Nature,  Rank,  and  All-Sufficiency  of  the 
Son,    through    Whom    Redemption    has 
COME,  I  :  15-20 

15.  who  is  °the  image  of  the  invisible  God,  °the  firstborn 

I,  He  is  the  visible  manifestation  of  the  invisible  {unknowable)  God, 

I  :  15a 

15.  In  the  preceding  verses  (13,  14),  Paul  has  recalled  to  the 
Colossian  Christians,  about  whom  Epaphras  has  given  him  full  in- 
formation, the  facts  of  their  own  experience:  They  have  been  deliv- 
ered from  the  power  of  darkness;  they  have  been  deported  and  have 
come  under  the  gracious  sway  of  the  Son  of  God's  love;  they  have 
had  actual  experience  of  the  redemption  which  has  its  ground  in  him, 
receiving  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins.  So  much,  at  least,  you  know 
about  him  through  the  facts  of  your  own  experience,  Paul  would  say. 
But  I  will  tell  you  more  at  length  who  and  what  he  is,  so  that  you 
may  not  be  misled  by  the  false  teachers  there,  who  would  fain  turn 
you  away  from  him  and  persuade  you  that  it  is  necessary  to  trust  in 
other  mediators.  I  will  show  you  that  he  is  supreme  and  all-suffi- 
cient, and  that,  because  all  the  plenitude  of  deity  is  in  him.  The 
image  of  the  invisible  God.  The  word  "invisible"  is  here  clearly 
the  antithesis  of  image,  so  that  the  meaning  is,  who  is  the  visible  em- 
bodiment, incarnation,  manifestation,  of  the  invisible  God.  The 
present  tense  in  this  sentence  does  not  limit  Paul's  statement  to  the 
exalted  Christ,  as  some  hold.  The  statement  is  one  of  general  scope : 
The  fact  holds  good  of  Christ  that  he  is  the  image  of  God.  The  whole 
passage  views  Christ,  not  "divided"  into  preincarnate,  incarnate,  and 
exalted,  but  as  one  Christ  in  his  undivided  totality,  so  to  speak. 
The  thought  of  Paul  is  contained  substantially  in  John's  gospel :  "  No 
man  has  ever  at  any  time  seen  God.  ...  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father."  The  firstborn  of  all  creation.  He  is  the  one  born 
before  all  creation.  The  word  creation  is  not  the  partitive  genitive, 
which  would  imply  that  Christ  was  part  of  creation  himself;  it  is  the 
genitive  of  comparison  after  the  word  "first"  in  firstborn.  There  are 
two  instances  of  this  in  Jn.  i  :  15,  30.  In  later  Greek  the  word 
"first,"  which  is  a  superlative,  is  used  with  the  genitive  where  the 
comparative  of  the  same  word  might  have  been  expected  (Thayer). 
Moreover,  notice  that,  in  contrast  with  all  other  things  and  beings  in 
heaven  and  on  earth,  Christ  is  born,  not  created.  He  is  thus  in 
nature  different  from  all  else,  just  as  a  woman's  child,  which  is  born 

18 


COLOSSIANS 


i6.  of  all  creation;  °for  in  him  were  all  things  created,  °in 
the  heavens  and  upon  the  earth,  things  visible  and 
things  invisible,  whether  thrones  or  dominions  or  prin- 
cipalities or  powers;    °all  things  have  been  created 

of  her,  differs  from  something  that  is  made  by  her.  The  word  (first- 
born), then,  impHes  that  in  some  way,  inscrutable  and  incompre- 
hensible, Christ  is  derived  from  God,  the  Father.  This  is  involved 
in  the  word  "only  begotten,"  also,  in  Jn.  i  :  i8.  The  word  "first- 
born" is  used  in  Hebrews  also  (i  :  6).  **  When  he  bringeth  in  the 
firstborn  into  the  world." 

2.   He  is  the  ground^  the  agents  and  the  goal  of  creation,  the  head  and 
upholder  of  the  universe,  i  :  i6,  17 

16.  For  in  him  were  all  things  created.  Here  is  the  proof  of  his 
priority  to  all  creation,  namely,  that  in  him  creation  had  its  origin, 
its  ground,  its  realization;  which  is  to  say,  that  apart  from  him  and 
but  for  him,  there  would  have  been  no  ground  of  creation,  no  motive 
for  creation,  no  justification  of  creation,  and  no  creation.  The  em- 
phasis on  the  words  "in  him"  is  exclusive  —  it  was  in  him  and  not 
in  any  other  that  creation  had  its  ground.  "The  conditioning  cause 
of  creation  resided  in  him  "  (Abbott).  And  what  is  this  but  what  we  call 
"TheChristian  View  of  the  World"  ?  This  relation  of  Christ  to  creation 
is  acceptable  to  our  reason  and  reasonable  to  our  understanding. 
Blot  out  Christ  and  creation  becomes  a  failure,  a  blunder,  a  crime. 
"Apart  from  Christ  there  would  have  been  no  creation,  with  him 
creation  was  a  necessity"  (Haupt).  In  the  heavens  and  upon  the 
earth.  What  Paul  would  say  is  this:  When  I  said  all  things  I  meant 
all  things  in  the  most  unqualified,  absolute  sense,  with  no  limitation 
or  exception.  I  meant  the  whole  universe,  all  that  is,  not  only  what 
is  on  earth  but  what  is  in  the  heavens,  not  only  what  is  visible  but  all 
that  is  invisible,  such,  for  example,  as  those  beings  that  compose  the 
hierarchy  of  the  unseen,  by  whatever  name  or  title  they  may  be 
designated,  thrones,  dominions,  principalities,  powers.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  Paul  has  reference  here  to  those  angelic  beings  or  Gnostic 
eons,  as  the  case  may  have  been,  which  the  propagandists  of  error 
believed  in  and  preached  among  the  Christian  believers  of  Colossae. 
All  things  have  been  created  through  him.  Not  only  was  Christ  the 
conditioning  cause  of  creation,  the  raison  d'etre  of  creation,  it  was 
through  his  agency  that  creation  actually  took  place.  It  was  through 
his  agential  act  or  activity  that  the  cosmos  emerged  out  of  vacuity. 
If  it  is  reasonable,  as  we  have  seen,  that  without  Christ  there  would 
have  been  no  justifying  reason  of  creation  and  no  creation,  why  should 

19 


COLOSSIANS 


17.  through    him,    °and    unto    him;    °and    he    is    before 

18.  all   things,    °and   in   him   all   things    ^  consist.     °And 

*  That  is,  hold  together. 


it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  that  he  should  have  accomplished  it? 
It  is  not  any  greater  to  be  the  agent  of  creation  than  to  be  the  con- 
ditioning cause  of  creation,  and  no  harder  to  believe  Christ  was  the 
one  than  the  other.  And  unto  him.  This  does  not  mean  that  it  was 
for  Christ's  advantage  or  glorification  or  any  such  thing.  It  means 
that  creation  took  place  with  reference  to  what  Christ  was  going  to 
be  to  it  and  do  for  it  in  the  course  of  the  ages.  It  was  effected  for  his 
future  relation  to  it  and  his  future  effects  upon  it.  Of  course,  it  was  for 
the  revelation  of  himself,  for  he  was  brought  out  of  the  hidden  depths 
and  made  known  both  in  creation  and  redemption,  of  which  process 
incarnation  was  a  part.  Thus  Christ  is  the  cause,  the  agent,  and  the 
goal  of  creation.  "  Tout  a  ete  cree  a  cause  de  lui,  par  lui,  et  pour 
lui."  All  men  are  coming  to  see,  some  slowly  and  confusedly  to  be 
sure,  that  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  pictured  by  Christ,  is  the  goal  of 
history,  the  final  end  of  creation,  indeed;  and  we  know  that  Christ 
himself  is  the  creator,  the  life,  the  centre,  the  head  of  this  kingdom, 
which  being  translated  into  contemporary  thought  and  interpreted 
in  contemporary  terms  means,  "  The  Christian  View  of  the  World"  — 
the  world  was  made  for  the  kingdom. 

17.  And  he  is  before  all  things.  The  word  "before"  does  not  here 
denote  priority  in  time.  That  would  be  only  a  tame  repetition  of 
what  has  already  been  strongly  said  in  verse  15.  This  difficulty  is 
probably  the  explanation  of  the  curious  construction  of  Lightfoot, 
followed  by  Westcott  and  Hort,  who  take  "is"  as  the  predicate  with 
the  meaning  "he  exists,"  a  construction  which  is  indefensible  for  at 
least  three  good  reasons.  The  word  "before"  is  here  used  of  rank. 
This  occurs  in  classical  Greek,  though  there  is  no  certain  instance  of  it 
in  the  New  Testament.  What  Paul  here  asserts  is  that  he,  Christ 
(with  emphasis),  is  still  at  the  head  of  the  universe,  as  he  was  when 
he  created  it  at  the  beginning.  This  is  an  advance  in  thought  upon 
anything  that  has  previously  been  said,  and  it  aptly  and  admirably 
prepares  the  way  for  the  declaration  that  follows,  namely,  and  in 
him  all  things  consist.  Not  only  is  he  still  the  head  of  the  universe, 
he  is  the  cohesive  force  that  holds  it  together  in  its  cosmical  complete- 
ness and  order,  "maintaining  the  relations  of  things  and  combining 
them  into  an  ordered  whole  so  that  there  is  cosmos  and  not  chaos." 
This  also  is  an  advance  on  what  Paul  has  said  before  and  follows  with 
beautiful  appositeness  the  assertion  that  he  is  still  the  head  of  all 
things. 

20 


COLOSSIANS  i:i8 


he  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  church:  °who  is 
the  beginning,  the  firstborn  from  the  dead;  °^that 
in    all    things    °he    might     have     the     preeminence. 

*  Or,  that  among  all  he  might  have 

3.  He  is  the  head  of  the  new  spiritual  creation,  the  church 

18.  Paul  now  passes  to  the  relation  of  Christ  to  the  new  creation, 
that  is,  the  church.  And  he  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  church.  As 
he  was  the  creator  and  is  the  supreme  executive  of  the  universe,  the 
natural  creation,  so  he,  the  same,  is  the  creator  and  head  of  the 
church,  which  is  the  new  spiritual  creation.  When  the  apostle 
comes  to  speak  of  Christ's  relation  to  the  church,  he  uses  words  differ- 
ent from  those  employed  to  show  his  relation  to  the  world,  words 
that  express  a  more  intimate  and  vital  relation  —  he  is  the  head  of 
the  church.  This  does  not  mean  that  he  is  to  the  church  what  the 
mayor  is  to  the  city,  or  the  president  to  the  nation  —  its  ruler  and 
director,  but  what  the  head  is  to  the  body,  the  seat  of  its  life,  the 
centre  and  mainspring  of  all  its  activities.  This  is  why  he  uses  the 
strange  form  of  expression  here  found.  Why  did  he  not  say  simply, 
he  is  the  head  of  the  church?  Because  that  would  have  meant  no 
more  than  that  he  is  ruler  and  director  of  the  church.  He  had  to  say, 
he  is  head-to-the-body  of  the  church,  or  he  is  body-head  to  the 
church,  or  he  is  the  church's  body-head,  which  means,  he  is  to  the 
church  what  the  head  is  to  the  body.  This  idea  is  brought  out  with 
greater  clearness  and  fulness  in  chap.  2  :  19,  where,  speaking  of  the 
false  teachers,  he  says,  "Not  holding  fast  the  Head  from  whom  all  the 
body,  being  supplied  and  knit  together  through  the  joints  and  bands, 
increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God."  Who  is  the  beginning.  "  In  that 
he  is."  The  word  here  translated  "beginning"  means  much  more 
than  that,  it  means  primal  source,  life-principle,  beginning  of  being. 
So  that  Christ  is  not  only  the  beginning  of  the  church  in  the  sense  of 
priority  in  time,  he  is  the  source  of  its  life,  he  is  its  fons  et  origo; 
being,  as  he  was,  the  first  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and  so  having  abol- 
ished death,  he  is  Lord  and  giver  of  life  —  a  life-giving  spirit  (i  Cor. 
15  :  45).  That  in  all  things.  In  the  church  as  well  as  in  the  universe; 
in  the  spiritual  as  well  as  in  the  natural  order.  He  might  have  the 
preeminence.  He  is  author,  upholder,  and  sovereign  of  the  universe. 
But  more,  he  is  now,  since  the  completion  of  his  work  of  redemption, 
in  the  fact  of  his  resurrection,  the  head  of  the  church,  which  is  indeed 
his  very  body;  and  this  in  order  that  he  might  thereby  complete  in 
all  realms,  spiritual  as  well  as  natural,  the  absoluteness  of  his  primacy 
and  so  of  his  supremacy. 

21 


i:i9  COLOSSIANS 


19.  °  ^  For  it  was  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father  °that  in 

20.  him  should  all  the  fulness  dwell ;    °and  through  him  to 
reconcile  all  things  ^  unto  ^  himself,  ^having  made  peace 

» Or,  For  the  whole  fulness  of  God  was  pleased  to  dwell  in  him  »  Or,  unto  him 
3  Or,  him 

4.  He  is  the  embodiment  of  the  totality  of  the  divine  attributes  and 

power Sy  I  :  19 

19.  For  it  was  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father.  Some  commenta- 
tors (as  Weiss,  Ellicott,  Von  Soden,  Abbott)  adopt  the  construction 
of  the  margin:  For  the  whole  fulness  of  God  was  pleased  to  dwell  in 
him.  This  is  not  only  harsh,  it  does  not  suit  the  following  words  to 
reconcile :  all  the  fulness  was  pleased  to  reconcile,  etc.  It  is  therefore 
rejected  by  most  commentators.  That  in  him  should  all  the  fulness 
dwell.  These  words  seem  to  mean  that  not  only  a  part  of  what  con- 
stituted divinity  or  deity,  but  the  whole  of  it,  and  this  by  the  will  of  the 
Father.  They  remind  us  of  the  word  of  Jesus  himself  in  John's  gos- 
pel, "  I  and  the  Father  are  one."  It  is  possible,  as  some  one  has  said, 
that  the  false  teachers  held  that  the  Lord  had  only  a  part  of  "the  ful- 
ness," the  pleroma.  In  opposition  to  this  Paul  declares  that  it  was 
the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father  that  the  totality  of  the  divine  attri- 
butes and  powers  should  dwell  in  Christ.  For  "all  that  is  his  own 
right  is  his  Father's  pleasure  and  is  ever  referred  to  that  pleasure  by 
himself"  (Alford). 

5.  He  is  the  mediator  through  whom  God  reconciles  all  things  and 

beings  in  heaven  and  on  earth  unto  himself ^  i  :  20 

20.  And  through  him  to  reconcile  all  things  unto  himself.  This 
clause  is  grammatically  dependent  on  the  leading  verb  of  verse  19, 
thus:  It  was  the  Father's  good  pleasure  also  through  Christ  to  reconcile 
unto,  or  bring  again  all  things  into  harmony  with,  himself.  But  it  is 
closely  connected  with  verse  19  in  meaning  also.  For  only  one  in 
whom  all  the  fulness  of  the  godhead  dwelt  could  do  this  work  of 
reconciliation.  Doubtless  Paul  here  had  in  mind  the  interposition 
of  the  angelic  or  Gnostic  mediators  taught  by  the  false  teachers. 
These  mediators  were  ineffective  because  neither  human  nor  divine. 
The  true  mediator  must  be  both  human  and  divine.  It  was  necessary 
that  in  him  all  the  plenitude  of  the  godhead  should  dwell;  and  it  was 
necessary  also  that  he  should  be  born  into  the  world  and  live  and 
suffer  as  a  man.  Having  made  peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross. 
This  rendering  obscures  the  relation  and  meaning  of  the  participle, 

22 


COLOSSIANS  1:21 


through  the  blood  of  his  cross ;    ^through  him,  /  say, 
whether  things  upon  the  earth,  or  things  in  the  heavens. 

V.  The  Actual  Experience  of  Reconciliation  on  the 

Part  of  the   Colossians:    the   Meaning 

AND  End  of  it,  i  :  21-2^3. 

21.   °And  you,  °being  in  time  past  alienated  °and  enemies 


having  made  peace.  It  does  not  express  action  antecedent  to  the  act 
of  reconciling.  It  rather  expresses  the  means  and  way  of  reconciling, 
and  the  action  expressed  by  it  is  not  only  simultaneous,  it  is  identical 
with  the  act  of  reconciling:  He  reconciled  all  things  to  God  by  mak- 
ing peace  or  harmonizing  them  with  God  through  his  blood.  And 
this  was  to  be  effected  through  the  sacrifice  of  himself  which  he  made 
on  the  cross.  Here  then  is  the  full  conception:  The  one  in  whom 
dwelt  all  the  fulness  of  deity,  shedding  his  blood  on  the  cross  to  recon- 
cile the  universe  back  to  God.  This  was  the  objective  fact  and 
factor  in  the  process  of  reconciliation.  Through  him,  I  say,  whether 
things  upon  the  earth,  or  things  in  the  heavens.  This  striking  addition 
carries  a  twofold  emphasis:  it  emphasizes  by  repetition  the  assertion 
that  it  was  through  Christ  and  no  other,  and  it  emphasizes  the  uni- 
versal extent  of  the  reconciliation  by  the  specification  of  the  things  in 
the  heavens  as  well  as  on  the  earth.  Reconciliation  was  not  brought 
about  by  any  of  those  manufactured  mediators  whom  the  intruding 
propagandists  preached.  Indeed,  those  whom  they  accepted  for 
themselves  and  urged  upon  others  as  mediators  needed  themselves 
to  be  reconciled;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Paul  says,  Christ  was 
reconciler  for  them  as  well  as  for  men.  If  these  mediators  were  the 
"angels"  of  Jewish  theology,  then  they  too  needed  reconciliation. 
This  may  be  the  intent  of  the  passage.  But  if  not,  then  who  or  what 
were  the  "things  in  the  heavens"  that  Christ  is  said  to  have  recon- 
ciled? Beyond  some  vague  hints  such  as  those  in  Acts  3:21;  Rom. 
8:21;  and  Eph.  i  :  10,  we  know  nothing,  and  perhaps,  as  Lightfoot 
says,  "It  were  vain  to  speculate."     But  see  on  Eph.  i  :  10. 

21.  And  you.  In  verses  12-14  he  referred  to  the  experience  of 
Christians  in  general,  including  the  Colossians  and  himself;  now  he 
refers  specifically  to  the  experience  of  the  Colossians  as  no  doubt 
Epaphras  had  described  it  to  him.  You  are,  Paul  would  say,  you 
yourselves  are  an  example  of  Christ's  reconciling  work.  Being  in 
time  past  alienated.  When  you  were  formerly  in  a  state  of  estrange- 
ment and  alienation.  And  enemies  in  your  mind.  They  were  more 
than  alienated,  they  were  actively  hostile  to  God  in  the  attitude 

23 


COLOSSIANS 


in  your  mind  °in  your  evil  works,  °yet  now  ^  hath  he 

22.  reconciled  °in  the  body  of  his  flesh  ^through  death,  °to 
present  you  holy  and  without  blemish  and  unreprove- 

23.  able  ^before  him:  °if  so  be  that  ye  continue  in  the 
faith,  ^grounded  and  stedfast,  °and  not  moved  away 
°from  the  hope  of  the  gospel  Vhich  ye  heard,  which 
was  preached  in  all  creation  under  heaven; 

*  Some  ancient  authorities  read  ye  have  been  reconciled. 

toward  him  of  their  mind  and  thought.  A  good  commentary  on  this 
may  be  found  in  Rom.  8  :  7,  ''The  mind  of  the  flesh  is  enmity  to 
God."  In  your  evil  works.  In  the  practice  of,  or  while  ye  went  on 
practising,  evil  deeds. 

22.  Yet  now  hath  he  reconciled.  He  has,  as  you  know  by  experi- 
ence, actually  brought  you  into  a  state  of  harmony  and  peace  with 
himself.  In  the  body  of  his  flesh.  His  literal  physical  body,  thus 
described  to  prevent  confusion  with  what  he  had  said  in  verse  18 
about  the  church  as  the  body  of  Christ.  It  is  possible  that  Paul  had 
in  mind  the  false  teachers  also  who  thought  reconciliation  could  be 
effected  by  spiritual  beings  only,  and  who  made  of  little  or  no  ac- 
count the  literal  death  of  the  body  of  Christ.  Through  death.  This 
defines  the  words  "in  the  body  of  his  flesh"  and  shows  how  he 
effected  reconciliation  in  the  body  of  his  flesh  —  it  was  through  the 
death  of  that  body.  To  present  you  holy  and  without  blemish  and 
unreproveable.  This  is  the  purpose  of  his  reconciling  you.  These 
terms  are  not  to  be  taken  in  a  forensic  sense,  but  express  moral  and 
spiritual  character,  the  first  being  positive,  the  other  two  negative. 
Before  him.  These  words  are  to  be  taken  with  "present,"  to  present 
you  before  him. 

23.  If  so  be  that  ye  continue  in  the  faith.  By  the  exercise  of  faith 
in  the  gospel,  as  it  was  preached  to  them  by  Epaphras,  they  had 
actually  been  brought  into  harmony  and  peace  with  God.  The 
condition  of  their  being  presented  at  last  before  God  holy  and  without 
blemish  and  without  blame  was  that  they  continue  in  the  (same) 
faith  instead  of  following  the  false  teachers  away  from  Christ.  The 
gospel  does  not  need  to  be  changed  or  supplemented.  Grounded  and 
stedfast.  These  words,  one  a  participle  and  the  other  an  adjective, 
may  be  taken  as  complementary  to  the  verb  "continue,"  thus:  If  ye 
continue  grounded  and  stedfast  in  the  faith;  or  they  may  be  taken 
as  a  sort  of  appositional  addition,  as  the  Revised  Version.  And  not 
moved  away.  This  is  a  present  participle  and  denotes  progress  or 
process  —  not  moving  or  shifting  away  to  the  empty  vagaries  of  the 

24 


COLOSSIANS  1:24 


VI.  Tms  Leads  up  to  a  Fuller  Statement  of  Paul's 
Relation  to  the  Gospel  and  his  Agency 
IN  Disseminating  it,  i  :  2313-29 

^whereof  I  Paul  was  made  a  minister. 
24.       °Now  I  rejoice  in  my  sufferings  for  your  sake,  °and 
fill  up  on  my  part  that  which  is  lacking  of  the  afflic- 


heretics.  From  the  hope  of  the  gospeL  The  hope  which  the  gospel 
gives.  Which  ye  heard,  which  was  preached  in  all  creation  under 
heaven.  This  is  the  gospel  which  you  heard;  and  the  gospel  which 
you  heard  is  that  which  has  been  universally  preached;  and  it  is  the 
gospel  of  which  I  Paul  was  appointed  a  minister.  It  is  not  likely  that 
you  will  be  wrong  in  cleaving  to  this  gospel,  having,  as  it  does,  such 
credentials  as  these.  It  is  not  likely  that  it  is  a  false  gospel  or  that 
it  is  defective.  It  is  not  likely  that  that  scheme  which  the  Jewish 
angel  worshippers  and  Gnostic  propagandists  have  hatched  up  and 
patched  up,  there  in  that  little  corner  of  the  world,  is  the  true  gospel 
and  that  I,  Paul,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  church  universal  are  wrong. 
Whereof  I  Paul  was  made  a  minister.  I,  Paul,  was  commissioned 
as  a  minister  of  this  gospel  by  God  who  is  its  author.  I  received  it 
not  from  man,  nor  through  man,  but  from  God. 

24.  Now  I  rejoice  in  my  sufferings  for  your  sake.  This  sentence 
breaks  in  very  abruptly.  The  abruptness  of  it  has  puzzled  all  readers 
of  the  epistle  from  the  copyists  of  the  manuscripts  down  to  the  latest 
commentator.  It  indicates  excited  emotion  on  the  part  of  Paul.  It 
was  nothing  new  for  him  to  rejoice  in  his  sufferings  and  to  say  so,  as 
he  did  in  2  Cor.  12:9,  10;  Phil.  2  :  17.  But  there  is  something  new 
here,  something  he  has  nowhere  else  said ;  most  probably  it  had  never 
occurred  to  him  before.  And  the  thought  is  so  startling  that  it 
affects  his  language  and  disturbs  the  even  tenor  of  his  style.  It  is 
this:  that  in  the  sufferings  which,  as  a  prisoner,  he  was  then  under- 
going for  the  sake  of  the  Colossians  and  other  Gentiles,  he  was  actually 
supplementing  and  completing  the  afflictions  of  Christ!  And  fill  up 
on  my  part  that  which  is  lacking.  In  what  sense  was  there  any  lack 
in  the  sufferings  of  Christ?  Certainly  Paul  would  have  been  the  last 
to  say  that  they  were  defective  in  any  sacrificial  sense.  It  was  in 
this  sense  :  that  many  and  severe  afflictions  (the  word  used  by  Paul) 
were  necessary,  inevitable,  in  bringing  Christ  to  the  knowledge  and 
commending  him  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Gentiles,  as  was  illustrated 
in  the  career  of  Paul  and  all  through  the  history  of  Acts.  These 
necessary  afflictions  had  to  be  endured  by  somebody.    Christ  himself 

25 


i:2S  COLOSSIANS 


tions  of  Christ  °in  my  flesh  for  his  body^s  sake,  °which 

25.  is  the  church;    °whereof  I  was  made  a  minister,  °ac- 
cording  to  the  ^dispensation  of  God  which  was  given 

26.  me  to  you-ward,  to  fulfil  the  word  of  God,  ^even  the 
mystery  which  hath  been  hid  ^  from  all  ages  and  gener- 

*  Or,  stewardship  *  Or.  from  the  ages  and  from  the  generations. 


could  not  endure  them  in  his  own  person,  for  he  was  no  longer  in  the 
world.  Those  who  voluntarily  accepted  and  endured  these  afflictions 
were,  then,  in  a  very  real  sense,  doing  it  in  Christ's  stead.  Jesus  said 
to  Saul  on  the  Damascus  road,  "  Why  persecutest  thou  we  f  "  Others 
explain  the  words  of  Paul  on  the  ground  of  his  doctrine  of  the  mystical 
identification  of  believers  with  Christ.  In  my  flesh  for  his  body's 
sake.  A  very  striking  collocation  —  in  my  flesh /(9r  his  body.  It  is 
equivalent  to  in  my  body  for  his  body.  The  afflictions  are  endured  in 
my  body,  but  it  is  for  his  body.  Paul  probably  uses  the  word  "  flesh  " 
for  the  sake  of  vividness,  realism.  Which  is  the  church.  Added  to 
prevent  confusion  between  Christ's  mystical  body  and  his  literal 
physical  body. 

25.  "Whereof  I  was  made  a  minister.  In  verse  23  he  said  he  had 
been  made  a  minister  of  the  gospel ;  here  of  the  church.  He  served 
the  church  in  ministering  the  gospel;  and  he  served  the  cause  of  the 
gospel  in  ministering  to  the  church.  According  to  the  dispensation 
of  God.  He  here  amplifies  the  implication  of  verse  i  into  a  full  and 
formal  statement  of  his  commission  as  an  apostle:  his  stewardship, 
trusteeship,  of  the  gospel  was  by  direct  gift,  bestowment,  appointment, 
of  God  himself.  Surely,  then,  he  ought  to  know  what  the  gospel  was 
and  what  it  was  not. 

26.  Even  the  mystery  which  hath  been  hid.  The  word  "  mystery  " 
simply  means  something  which  is  not  known  until  it  is  revealed, 
which  cannot  be  known  except  by  revelation,  in  short,  a  secret.  To 
Paul  it  was  given  to  make  this  secret  known,  namely,  that  the  whole 
world  of  Gentiles  is  made  fellow-sharer  of  salvation  in  Christ,  as 
Paul  says  at  length  in  Eph.  3  :  4,  8,  9.  The  undisputed  fact  that  it 
was  he  who  gave  the  gospel  to  the  world  of  Gentiles  is  a  confirmation 
of  his  statement  that  it  was  he  to  whom  the  revelation  of  this  secret 
and  the  commission  to  make  it  known  were  intrusted.  "Paul 
always  catches  fire  whenever  he  is  brought  to  think  or  speak  of  the 
world-wide  destination  of  the  gospel  and  the  honor  bestowed  on  him 
in  intrusting  him  with  the  task  of  transforming  the  church  from  a 
Jewish  sect  to  a  world-wide  communion.  There  is  no  greater  revolu- 
tion in  the  history  of  the  world  than  that  accomplished  through  him  — 

26 


COLOSSIANS  1 :  28 


ations :  °but  now  hath  it  been  manifested  to  his  saints, 

27.  °to  whom  God  was  pleased  °to  make  known  °what  is  the 
riches  of  the  glory  of  °this  mystery  among  the  Gen- 

28.  tiles,  °which  is  Christ  in  you,  °the  hope  of  glory :  °whom 
we  proclaim,  ^admonishing  °every  man  and  teaching 


cutting  Christianity  loose  from  Judaism  and  widening  the  church  to 
include  the  race"  (Maclaren).  But  now  hath  it  been  manifested 
to  his  saints.  It  has  now  become  "an  open  secret,"  for  it  has  been 
made  known  to  God's  people  and  so  to  all  the  world.  The  chief  agent 
to  whom  and  through  whom  it  was  made  known,  especially  in  its  full 
scope  and  significance,  was  Paul.    Compare  Eph.  3:8,  9. 

27.  To  whom  God  was  pleased  =  inasmuch  as  it  was  to  them  that 
God  willed.  To  make  known.  In  their  experience  of  salvation. 
What  is  the  riches  of  the  glory.  Not  how  glorious  is  the  riches,  but 
how  rich  is  the  glory,  for  glory  is  the  principal  idea  here.  The  con- 
ception of  the  inclusion  of  all  the  Gentile  peoples  of  the  whole  world 
in  the  hitherto  undisclosed  plan  of  God  is  so  inspiring  to  Paul  that  he 
has  to  strain  language  to  its  utmost  to  express  his  sense  of  it.  A 
good  commentary  on  this  part  of  Colossians  is  to  be  found  in  Eph. 
3  :  2-10,  which  is  evidently  an  amplification  of  this.  This  mystery 
among  the  Gentiles.  It  is  this  now  open  secret  of  the  gospel  offered 
freely  to  and  experienced  by  the  Gentiles  that  has  so  taken  possession 
of  Paul  that  he  lingers  on  it  and  is  loath  to  let  it  go. 

28.  Which  (secret)  is  Christ  in  you.  This  does  not  mean  Christ 
among  you.  That  does  not  agree  with  what  follows,  which  is  a  sub- 
jective, inner  experience,  namely,  the  hope  of  glory.  "The  indwell- 
ing Christ  is  a  pledge  of  future  glory."  "If  we  have  the  experience 
of  his  dwelling  in  our  hearts,  we  have  in  that  very  experience  of  his 
peace  and  power  a  quickener  of  the  hope  that  it  will  continue  after 
death  and  forever.  One  who  habitually  has  Christ  dwelling  in  him 
cannot  believe  that  death  will  end  such  a  union."  What  is  the  glory 
of  which  the  indwelling  of  Christ  creates  the  hope?  See  Col.  3:4; 
Rom.  5  :  2;  8  :  17.  Whom  we  proclaim.  Paul  here  refers  to  the  false 
teachers  and  their  doctrines.  The  pronoun  "we"  is  emphatic.  In 
contrast  with  what  they  teach,  we,  Paul  and  those  of  his  mind,  we 
proclaim  Christ.  Admonishing  .  .  .  and  teaching.  We  need  not 
suppose  that  this  refers  to  warning  the  disciples  against  false  teach- 
ing, as  Paul  is  doing  in  this  epistle.  It  was  his  regular  habit  to  warn 
men,  to  awaken  them,  and  to  teach  men.  This  is  the  natural  order. 
We  do  not  need  to  distinguish  the  words  further.  Every  man.  Paul's 
gospel  was  not  for  any  special  class.  He  slighted  no  man,  he  passed 
by  no  man.     He  preacbe4  a  gospel  that  was  for  every  single  indi- 

J27 


29  COLOSSIANS 


every  man  °in  all  wisdom,  °that  we  may  present  every 
29.   man  perfect   °in   Christ;    °whereunto   I  labour  also, 
^striving  ^according  to  his  working,  which  worketh  in 
me  ^  mightily. 

VII.  The    Emptiness    and    Futility    of    the    False 
Teaching   in    Contrast   with   the    All- 
Sufficiency  OF  Christ,  2  :  1-23 

2.       °For  I  would  have  you  know  how  greatly  I  strive  for 

"  Or,  in  power 

vidual  man,  the  possibility  of  whose  salvation  he  recognized  and 
undertook  to  secure.  And  we  know  this  was  his  actual  practice.  He 
not  only  believed  in  "individual  work  for  individuals,"  he  undertook 
it.  Read  Acts  20  :  31,  and  especially  the  beautiful  and  pathetic 
letter  to  Philemon  about  an  individual,  a  runaway  slave.  Paul  knew 
no  hopeless  classes  and  no  hopeless  cases.  In  ail  wisdom.  That  is, 
by  using  every  form  of  wisdom  and  tact,  adapting  it  to  ''every  man," 
to  each  individual  case.  That  we  may  present  every  man  perfect. 
Present  to  whom?  God,  of  course.  Paul  then  preaches  and  labors 
(see  next  verse)  with  the  hope  and  purpose  of  bringing  every  man  to 
maturity  in  faith  and  character.  In  Christ.  For  Paul  knows  no  other 
way;  and  he  has  absolutely  no  hope  of  doing  it  apart  from  Christ. 
29.  Whereunto  I  labour  also.  Better,  whereunto  I  actually  toil. 
With  a  view  to  which  end,  namely,  that  I  may,  by  seasonable  warning 
and  patient  teaching,  in  the  use  of  every  form  of  wisdom,  develop 
every  man  to  the  state  of  maturity  in  faith  and  Christian  life,  I  actu- 
ally toil.  The  word  expresses  toil  carried  to  the  point  of  weariness. 
Striving.  Straining  like  an  athlete  in  the  contest.  According  to  his 
working,  which  worketh  in  me  mightily.  The  toil  and  striving  are 
not  of  a  merely  human  sort,  not  in  proportion  to  his  own  natural  powers, 
but  to  the  energy  of  him  who  energizes  in  him  in  mighty  power. 
Compare  Eph.  3  :  20:  ''According  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us." 

I.   His  intense  anxiety  for  them  in  view  of  the  danger  threatening 
them,  2:1-8 

I.  For  I  would  have  you  know  how  greatly  I  strive  for  you.  Better, 
in  how  severe  a  struggle  I  am  engaged  in  your  behalf.  This  is  by  way 
of  confirming  what  he  had  said  in  the  previous  verse  (i  :  29).     It 

28 


COLOSSIANS 


you,  °and  for  them  at  Laodicea,  °and  for  as  many  as 

2.  have  not  seen  my  face  in  the  flesh;  °that  their  hearts 
may  be  comforted,  °they  being  knit  together  in  love, 
^and  unto  all  riches  of  the  ^  full  assurance  of  under- 
standing, °that  they  may  know  the  mystery  of  God, 

3.  ^  even  Christ,  °in  whom  °are  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom 

*  Or,  fulness     *  The  ancient  authorities  vary  much  in  the  text  of  this  passage. 

may  be  also  a  justification  of  his  having  used  such  strong  words. 
This  class  of  words  is  to  be  found  in  every  group  of  Paul's  epistles, 
but  are  nowhere  else  in  the  New  Testament.  And  for  them  at  Laod- 
icea. Laodicea  was  near  to  Colossae  (eleven  miles),  and  its  church 
had  the  same  pastor  (4  :  13).  And  for  as  many  as  have  not  seen  my 
face  in  the  flesh  =  and  in  short  for  all  who,  etc.  These  words  imply 
what  is  confirmed  by  the  tone  of  the  epistle  throughout,  as  well  as  by 
the  absence  of  any  mention  of  Colossae  in  Acts,  that  Paul  had  never 
visited  Colossae. 

2.  That  their  hearts  may  be  comforted,  or  rather  that  their  hearts 
may  be  encouraged  and  strengthened.  They  needed  encouragement 
more  than  they  needed  comfort.  They  being  knit  together  in  love. 
That  is,  that  they  may  be  bound  together  in  love.  This  would  guard 
them  against  the  divisive  tendencies  of  the  false  teacMjjg.  And  unto 
all  riches  of  the  full  assurance  of  understanding.  fTtis  the  further 
object  of  his  agonizing  struggle  in  prayer  that  their  hearts  may  be 
comforted  and  united  so  as  to  bring  them  into  the  enjoyment  of  all 
that  wealth  which  consists  in  the  full  assurance,  the  absolutely  un- 
questioning, unwavering  certitude,  which  either  meets  and  answers 
all  the  questions  of  the  understanding  or  so  satisfies  and  fills  the  heart 
that  there  are  no  questions  to  asl^The  thought  is  similar  to  that 
in  Phil.  4:7:  **The  peace  of  God  wMch  passeth  all  understanding.'* 
That  they  may  know  the  mystery  of  God,  even  Christ.  This  is  par- 
allel to  the  preceding  words,  namely,  Unto  all  the  riches  of  the  full 
assurance  of  understandings  which  is  the  same  as  to  say,  that  they 
may  fully  know  Christ,  God's  secret;  for  full  knowledge  of  him  will 
give  full  assurance  and  satisfaction  to  the  understanding. 

3.  In  whom.  This  refers  to  Christ,  who  is  the  secret  of  God.  Are 
all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  The  false  teachers  as- 
sumed that  they  had  a  knowledge  higher  and  deeper  than  that  of 
ordinary  Christian  believers;  otherwise  they  would  not  have  pro- 
posed to  teach  them.  As  a  sweeping  refutation  of  all  these  assump- 
tions and  pretensions  Paul  declares  at  once  that  all  wisdom  and 
knowledge  are  to  be  found  in  Christ,  and  they  do  not  need  therefore 

29 


COLOSSIANS 


4.  and  knowledge  ^hidden.     °This  I  say,  °that  no  one 

5.  may  delude  you  with  persuasiveness  of  speech.  For 
though  I  am  absent  in  the  flesh,  yet  am  I  with  you  in 
the  spirit,  °joying  and  beholding  °your  order,  and  the 

6.  stedfastness  of  your  faith  in  Christ. 

°As  therefore   ye  received  Christ  Jesus   the   Lord, 

7.  ^so  walk   in   him,  ^rooted  °and  builded   up   in   him, 

to  seek  it  elsewhere.  Hidden.  This  has  a  double  reference:  to  the 
secret,  esoteric  knowledge  professed  by  the  false  teachers,  on  the  one 
hand;  and  to  Christ  as  the  secret  of  God,  on  the  other.  For  the  knowl- 
edge that  is  in  Christ  is  hidden,  so  to  speak,  and  has  to  be  revealed 
before  it  can  be  made  available,  i  Cor.  2  :  6-10  is  an  illuminating 
commentary  on  this. 

4.  This  I  say.  Referring  to  the  preceding  assertion  that  all  the 
treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  are  in  Christ.  That  no  one  may 
delude  you  with  persuasiveness  of  speech.  That  no  one  may  mislead 
you  by  his  plausible  sophistry.  This  is  the  first  explicit  reference  to 
the  false  teachers,  and  this  description  of  them  reveals  at  once  their 
sinister  motives  and  their  subtle  methods.  Delude.  Seduce  you 
away  from  your  attitude  of  steadfast  faith  and  your  solid  unanimity 
in  Christ,  which,  though  absent,  I  behold,  and  beholding,  rejoice. 

5.  Joying  and  beholding.  Rejoicing  with  you  and  beholding. 
Your  order,  and  the  stedfastness  of  your  faith  in  Christ.  He  had 
learned  from  Epaphras  that,  so  far,  none  of  the  Colossian  Christians 
had  been  led  away.  These  are  military  figures,  and  the  meaning 
seems  to  be,  "Your  orderly  array  and  the  solid  unbroken  front  which 
your  faith  in  Christ  presents  against  the  assaults  of  the  deceivers." 
We  should  bear  in  mind  that  Paul  was  in  daily  contact  with  drilling 
soldiers  in  the  barracks  at  Rome,  Eph.  6  :  10-17. 

6.  Therefore.  What  I  am  driving  at  is  this.  Do  not  turn  away 
from  Christ  to  follow  the  new  but  dangerous  scheme  of  the  deceivers. 
As  ye  received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord.  They  had  learned  the  gospel 
from  Epaphras  (i  :  7),  whose  conception  of  the  gospel  was  the  same  as 
Paul's.  Christ.  He  says  Christ  instead  of  the  gospel  because  the 
fundamental  error  of  the  false  teachers  was  their  misconception  of 
Christ.  Jesus.  "In  whom  the  true  conception  of  the  Christ  was 
realized."  Cf.  Eph.  3:11;  4  :  20,  21.  So  walk  in  him.  Live  your 
life,  regulate  your  whole  conduct,  in  accordance  with  the  way  you 
learned  Christ,  and  in  union  with  him. 

7.  Rooted.  This,  being  the  perfect  tense,  expresses  the  settled  state 
of  their  life  with  reference  to  Christ.  And  builded  up  in  him.  This, 
being  the  present  tense,  expresses  the  continual  development  which  is 

30 


COLOSSIANS  2:9 


°and  stablished  ^  in  your  faith,  even  as  ye  were  taught, 

8.  abounding  ^  in  thanksgiving. 

°  ^  Take  heed  lest  there  shall  be  any  one  °that 
maketh  spoil  of  you  ^through  his  philosophy  and 
vain  deceit,  °after  the  tradition   of   men,   °after  the 

9.  *  rudiments  of  the  world,  °and  not  after  Christ:    °for 

»  Or,  by       '  Some  ancient  authorities  insert  in  it.      3  Or,  see  whether      -♦  Or,  elements 

always  advancing,  but  still  and  always,  in  him.  And  stablished  in 
your  faith.  This  also  is  a  present  participle,  denoting,  not  a  fixed, 
unchanging  state,  but  a  continuous  process.  They  were  to  become 
continuously  more  and  more  firmly  established  in,  not  6y,  their  faith, 
as  the  margin  reads. 

8.  Take  heed  lest  there  shall  be  any  one.  Here  again  is  a  direct 
reference  to  the  men  who  were  trying  to  deceive  them  by  subtle,  artful 
sophistry  into  adopting  their  system  in  place  of  the  gospel  they  had 
received  at  first.  That  maketh  spoil  of  you.  Take  possession  of 
you  and  carry  you  off  as  his  spoil.  This,  then,  is  what  they  were  en- 
gaged in  trying  to  do.  Through  his  philosophy  and  vain  deceit. 
Here  Paul  directly  attacks  the  false  teaching.  "Philosophy"  is  what 
they  called  their  system.  An  empty  delusion  and  sham  is  what  Paul 
called  it,  and  what  it  was.  It  was  false  and  it  was  empty.  There 
was  absolutely  nothing  to  it.  In  these  heated  words  we  see  again 
the  jealous  and  fiery  defender  of  the  faith  who  wrote  the  epistle  to 
the  Galatians.  After  the  tradition  of  men.  This  so-called  "philoso- 
phy" of  theirs  was  a  man-made  scheme.  God  had  nothing  to  do  with 
it;  it  had  in  reality  nothing  to  do  with  God.  It  was  originated  en- 
tirely by  men  and  is  handed  along  from  men  to  men.  The  stream 
rises  no  higher  than  its  source.  After  the  rudiments  of  the  world.  As 
to  its  origin,  it  is  altogether  of  man;  as  to  its  subject-matter,  it  con- 
cerns itself  with  what  is  of  this  world.  As  to  what  is  meant  specifi- 
cally by  the  expression  "the  rudiments  of  the  world,"  it  is  not  easy 
to  determine.  It  may  mean  worldly  in  the  sense  of  material  as  op- 
posed to  spiritual  things.  Or  it  may  mean  elements  with  which  the 
world  concerns  itself,  namely,  puerile  questions  of  the  world.  Sev- 
eral recent  commentators  take  it  to  mean  personal  elemental  spirits 
(see  Introduction).  And  not  after  Christ.  Not  having  Christ  for  its 
subject-matter. 

2.   The  fulness  of  Christ  and  their  fulness  in  him,  2  :  9-15 

9.  For  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead.  The  word 
"for"  introduces  the  reason  or  ground  of  a  thought  which  is  left  to  be 

31 


2 :  10  COLOSSIANS 


in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  °bodily, 
lo    °and  in  him  ye  are  made  full,  °who  is  the  head  of  all 
II.  principality  and  power:   °in   whom   ye  were  also  cir- 
cumcised with  a  circumcision  not  made  with   hands. 


supplied  by  the  reader,  as  is  often  the  case  in  Paul.  The  connection 
is  something  like  this:  The  system  or  gospel  that  has  not  Christ  for  its 
subject-matter  and  centre  is  false,  which  implies  that  the  true  gospel 
has  Christ  for  its  subject-matter;  and  conversely,  the  gospel  which 
has  Christ  for  its  centre  and  substance  is  true  — for  in  him  dwells  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead.  In  him,  standing  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sentence,  is  emphatic.  Dwelleth.  Some  say  that  this  present  tense 
implies  that  the  reference  is  to  the  present  exalted  state  of  Christ. 
Not  necessarily  so.  It  may  be  a  general  statement  of  what  is  true 
of  Christ  throughout.  In  any  case  it  was  sufficient  to  make  plain  the 
truth  that  Paul  wanted  to  utter,  and  to  serve  his  purpose.  All  the 
fulness.  That  is,  not  a  part  of  what  constituted  deity,  but  the  am- 
plitude of  it.  Of  the  Godhead.  Not  only  divine  powers  or  attributes, 
but  the  divine  nature  itself.  This  word  m.eans  deity,  not  divinity; 
that  is  another  Greek  word.  Bodily.  Some  refer  this  to  the  incarna- 
tion and  take  it  to  mean  corporeally,  "bodily-wise"  (Lightfoot). 
Others  take  it  to  mean :  The  fulness  dwells  in  the  exalted  Christ  as 
a  complete  and  organic  whole.  In  this  case  it  refers  to  the  fulness 
and  not  to  Christ.  ^ 

10.  And  in  him  ye  are  made  full.  lYou  are  the  body  of  Christ, 
incorporate  with  him,  so  that  in  him  the  fulness  is  yours,  ideally ;  and 
practically,  you  find  in  Christ  the  full  satisfaction  of  every  spiritual 
want  and  do  not  need  the  help  of  any  other  mediator  or  power.  Being 
in  him,  you  are  filled  from  his  fulness  as  a  smaller  vessel  within  a 
larger  one  is  filled  from  the  fulness  of  the  larger  one.  It  is  filled  to 
its  own  full  capacity,  yet  not  so  as  to  receive  all  the  fulnesO  Who 
is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power.  Better,  of  every  princtpality . 
He  who  is  your  head  is  universal  head  of  all  that  is  called,  of  all  that 
is,  rule  and  authority  in  the  universe.  He  is  the  head  of  all  those 
intermediate  beings  the  false  teachers  are  trying  to  persuade  you  to 
put  your  trust  in.  As  they  themselves  are  inferior  to  and  dependent 
on  Christ,  they  have  nothing  that  you  have  not  already  at  first  hand 
and  in  all  its  fulness  in  Christ. 

11.  In  whom  ye  were  also  circumcised.  What  does  he  mean  by 
dragging  in  circumcision  here?  Where  is  the  relevancy  of  any  such 
reference?  Paul  has  just  made  a  sweeping  assertion  of  the  absolute 
fulness  of  Christ,  the  divine  fulness  of  Christ,  in  general,  and  followed 
it  by  an  unqualified  declaration  that  his  fulness  is  theirs,  that  they  have 
the  full  satisfaction  of  every  spiritual  need  in  him.     But  this  is  a 

32 


COLOSSIANS  2:12 


°in  the  putting  off  of  the  body  of  the  flesh,  °in  the  cir- 
12.  cumcision  of  Christ;   ^having  been  buried  with  him  in 

general  undefined  statement.  He  now  wishes  to  give  some  concrete 
instance  of  this  general  truth  and  that  in  terms  of  their  own  actual 
experience,  one  which  they  have  the  means  of  verifying.  So  he  cites 
and  describes  their  experience  of  actual  deliverance  from  the  domin- 
ion and  corruption  of  their  carnal  nature.  But  for  some  reason  he 
chooses  to  do  this  under  the  figure  of  circumcision.  Why?  Doubt- 
less because  the  false  teachers,  among  other  things,  insisted  on  their 
being  circumcised,  not  perhaps  as  a  condition  of  salvation,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Gentile  believers  at  Antioch  (Acts  15  :  i)  and  the  Gala- 
tians  (Gal.  6  :  12),  but  probably  as  conferring  and  indicating  a  higher 
degree  of  sanctity.  So,  Paul  says,  by  virtue  of  your  union  with  Christ, 
you  have  already  been  circumcised  in  the  true  sense  of  that  sym- 
bolic observance.  For  true  circumcision  was  not  done  with  hands. 
What  could  that  do  toward  the  renewing  of  a  man's  evil  nature  and 
transforming  him  in  character?  In  the  putting  off  of  the  body  of  the 
flesh.  Circumcision  had  a  symbolic  meaning  for  Paul.  It  meant 
the  complete  putting  off,  not  of  a  part  of  the  body,  but  of  the  entire 
body  of  the  flesh,  that  is,  rendering  inactive,  unresponsive,  and  dead 
the  body  in  so  far  as  it  is  the  seat  or  organ  of  sinful  passion;  as  he 
says  in  Rom.  6  :  6,  ''That  the  body  of  sin  might  be  done  away."  This 
then,  is  what,  as  a  matter  of  experience,  Christ  had  done  for  the  Colos- 
sians,  as  Epaphras  had  informed  Paul;  he  had  done  for  them  the 
wonderful,  the  impossible  thing  that  he  had  years  ago  done  for  Paul 
himself  as  related  in  Rom.  7  :  24,  25,  and  8  :  2.  Now,  then,  why 
should  they  turn  aside  to  the  weak  and  beggarly  elements  of  the 
world  and  consent  to  be  brought  into  dependence  on  them  and 
bondage  to  them?  The  situation  in  Galatians  is  similar  to  this  (see 
Gal.  3  :  3  and  4:9).  In  the  circumcision  of  Christ.  The  circum- 
cision which  is  brought  about  by  Christ  by  virtue  of  union  with  him, 
as  opposed  to  the  hand-made  circumcision  of  the  Jewish  patriarchs 
and  Moses. 

1 2.  Having  been  buried  with  him  in  baptism.  The  sudden  mention 
of  circumcision  in  the  preceding  verse  was  so  abrupt  as  to  be  almost 
startling.  The  introduction  of  baptism  here  seems  more  so.  What 
connection  has  baptism  with  the  subject  he  is  discussing?  It  is 
probably  introduced  to  mark  the  epoch  in  their  own  life  when  they 
had  the  experience  of  deliverance  called  in  the  preceding  verse  cir- 
cumcision. It  specifies  the  time  when  the  circumcision  was  brought 
about.  But  it  has  a  further  and  deeper  meaning  here.  It  introduces 
the  other,  the  positive,  element  of  their  experience  of  salvation, 
namely,  their  resurrection  to  a  new  life.  Circumcision  represented 
the  deliverance  from  the  bondage  and  corruption  of  the  old  carnal 

D  3Z 


COLOSSIANS 


baptism,  Vherein  °ye  were  also  raised  with  him 
^through  faith  in  the  working  of  God,  °who  raised  him 
13.  from  the  dead.  °And  you,  °being  dead  ^through  your 
trespasses  °and  the  uncircumcision  of  your  flesh,  °you,  / 
say,  °did  he  quicken  together  with   him,  ^having  for- 

life;  baptism  represented  the  introduction  into  the  new  resurrection 
life  of  holiness  and  service.  Wherein.  That  is,  at  the  time  of  bap- 
tism, though  some  refer  this  to  Christ,  meaning  in  whom.  Ye  were 
also  raised  with  him.  This  view  of  the  symbolic  significance  of 
baptism  is  a  prominent  Pauline  conception  and  is  drawn  out  at 
length  in  Rom.  6  :  3,  4,  which  is  a  good  commentary  on  this.  Through 
faith  in  the  working  of  God.  The  literal  translation  of  the  Greek 
would  be  through  the  faith  of  the  working  of  God,  which  may  mean 
either  the  faith  which  is  the  effect  of  the  working  of  God,  or  faith 
directed  toward,  exercised  in,  the  working  of  God,  as  the  R.V.  renders 
it.  This  last  seems  to  be  more  in  agreement  with  the  usage  of  Paul. 
Who  raised  him  from  the  dead.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  was  with 
Paul  the  great  example  of  the  efficacy  of  the  working  of  God,  as  in 
Eph.  I  :  19,  20. 

13.  And  you.  That  is,  you  as  well  as  Christ.  Being  dead.  That 
is,  though  you  were  dead,  or  while  you  were  dead.  In  the  former  ap- 
peal to  their  experience,  i  :  21,  he  referred  to  their  prechristian  con- 
dition as  one  of  estrangement  from  and  hostility  to  God.  Here  he 
goes  further,  he  says  they  were  dead  to  all  good.  Through  your 
trespasses.  In  i  :  21  it  was  in  their  evil  deeds,  in  the  practice  of 
wrong-doing;  here  it  is  through,  by  means  or  by  reason  of  their  tres- 
passes. See  a  similar  thought  in  Jn.  3  :  19  and  Rom.  7  :  9.  And 
the  uncircumcision  of  your  flesh.  The  unrenewed  state  of  your  carnal 
nature,  which  prompted  the  transgressions.  You,  I  say.  Repeated 
to  emphasize  the  personal  appeal  to  them  on  the  ground  of  their  ex- 
perience. Did  he  quicken  together  with  him.  God  is  the  subject 
of  the  verb  "quicken"  (cf.  verse  12).  Paul  does  not  here  mean  to 
say  that  when  God  raised  Christ  from  the  dead,  he  potentially  raised 
them,  i.e.,  made  provision  for  their  being  raised  into  spiritual  life, 
though  that  is  true;  but  that  he  actually  raised  them  into  spiritual 
life  (at  their  conversion)  even  as  he  raised  Christ.  There  is  a  passage 
in  Romans  (6  :  4,  5)  which  is  parallel  to  this  and  a  good  commentary 
on  it.  The  passage  here  refers  to  their  spiritual  resurrection,  the 
regeneration  of  their  moral  being,  as  is  shown  by  what  follows, 
namely,  having  forgiven  us  all  our  trespasses.  This  still  refers  to 
God  as  subject.  It  means  forgiving  us  our  trespasses  in  the  act  of 
quickening.  Note  the  change  from  the  second  to  the  first  person  — 
from  "you"  to  "us." 

34 


COLOSSIANS  2 :  14 


14.  given  us  all  our  trespasses;  ^having  blotted  out  4he 
bond  written  in  ordinances  °that  was  against  us,  °which 
was  contrary  to  us:    °and  he  hath  taken  it  out  of  the 

»  Or,  the  bond  that  was  against  us  by  its  ordinances 

14.  Having  blotted  out  the  bond  written  in  ordinances.  The  state- 
ment of  the  preceding  verse  is  made  of  God.  It  was  he  who  quickened 
them  into  new  Hfe,  having  forgiven  them  all  their  trespasses.  But 
the  declarations  of  verses  14  and  15  are  made  of  Christ,  as  is  shown  by 
the  parallel  passage  in  Eph.  2:15.  The  bond  was  the  law  which  the 
Jews  were  under  obligation  to  keep,  so  that  it  was  of  the  nature  of  a 
contract  or  bond.  The  law  consisted,  in  part  at  least,  of  rules  and 
regulations  concerning  the  minutest  details  of  life.  This  is  probably 
what  Paul  means  by  "ordinances."  That  was  against  us=which 
stood  against  us.  This  refers  to  "the  validity  of  the  bond  itself." 
Which  was  contrary  to  us.  This  describes  its  actual  oppression  of 
us.  It  was  of  binding  force  against  us  and  it  was  oppressive  in  its 
operation  on  us.  And  he  hath  taken  it  out  of  the  way,  nailing  it  to 
the  cross.  Christ  not  only  removed  the  condemnation  of  the  law 
(Rom.  8  :  i),  he  actually  blotted  it  out,  cancelled  it;  nay,  he  absolutely 
destroyed  the  document  itself  —  he  pinned  it  with  nails  to  the  cross 
and  left  it  to  rot  and  perish.  These  are  words  of  intolerant  resent- 
ment and  unqualified  condemnation.  What  do  they  mean?  Could 
Paul,  who  wrote  of  the  moral  law  in  terms  of  such  profound  rever- 
ence as  he  does  in  Rom.  7  :  12-22,  have  used  these  words  of  unquali- 
fied condemnation  and  unrelieved  severity  of  that  same  law?  In 
order  to  meet  this  difficulty  must  we  not  suppose  that,  though  Paul 
nowhere  expressly  makes  a  distinction  between  the  ceremonial  and 
the  moral  precepts  of  the  law,  yet  he  does,  in  this  passage,  have  the 
difference  in  mind  and  he  does  here  refer  to  the  former?  It  seems 
very  likely  that  when  he  speaks  of  the  bond  written  in  ordinances, 
or  consisting  of  ordinances,  he  has  in  mind  that  part  of  the  law  which 
prescribes  rules  and  regulations  concerning  external  matters,  (i)  The 
word  "ordinances"  itself  suggests  this  (cf.  verse  21).  (2)  Paul  no- 
where else  speaks  with  such  feeling  or  in  such  terms  of  the  moral 
law,  but  always  with  respect  and  reverence  (cf.  Rom.  7  :  12,  22). 
(3)  Those  prescriptions  of  the  false  teachers  which  in  verses  16  and 
21  he  enjoins  the  Colossians  to  ignore  and  repudiate  have  reference 
solely  to  external  observances.  (4)  In  Phil.  3  :  6,  Paul  declares  that 
"touching  the  righteousness  which  is  in  the  law"  he  was  in  his  pre- 
christian  state  "found  blameless."  If  this  refers  to  what  is  known  as 
the  ceremonial  law,  then  this  passage  is  reconcilable  with  what  he 
says  in  Rom.  7  :  14,  22,  23,  about  his  helpless  inability  to  keep  the 

35 


IS  COLOSSIANS 


15.  way,  nailing  it  to  the  cross;  °^  having  put  off  from 
himself  the  principalities  and  the  powers,  he  made  a 
show  of  them   openly,   triumphing  over  them  in   it. 

16.  °Let  no  man  therefore  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink, 
or  in  respect  of  a  feast  day  or  a  new  moon  or  a  sabbath 

17.  day:   Vhich  are  a  shadow  of  the  things  to  come;   °but 

18.  the  body  is  Christ's.     °Let  no  man  rob  you  of  your 

»  Or,  having  put  off  from  himself  his  body,  he  made  a  show  of  the  principalities  and 
Powers  6^c. 

law  (the  moral  law).    Otherwise  the  two  passages  are  flatly  con- 
tradictory and  absolutely  irreconcilable. 

15.  Having  put  off,  etc.  This  verse  is  one  of  the  most  obscure  and 
difficult  in  the  epistle,  or  indeed  in  the  whole  New  Testament.  It  is 
probable  that  the  text  here  has  been  corrupted,  increasing  the  diffi- 
culty. Lightfoot's  paraphrase  is  as  follows:  "Having  stripped  off 
and  put  away  the  powers  of  evil,  he  made  a  public  display  of  them, 
leading  them  as  captives  or  trophies  in  a  triumphal  procession  by 
means  of  the  cross.  The  convict's  gibbet  becomes  the  victor's  car.'* 
But  see  Abbott,  pp.  258-261,  and  Peake,  p.  569. 

16.  Let  no  man  therefore.  -Since  the  bond  is  cancelled  and  de- 
stroyed and  the  law  of  precepts  and  prohibitions  is  thus  abolished,  do 
not  let  any  man  bring  you  into  bondage  to  it  again.  It  seems  clear 
that  here  Paul  has  in  mind  those  "ordinances"  of  the  law  which 
gave  minute  directions  concerning  external  unessential  matters,  such 
as  meats,  drinks,  feast  days,  etc.  Moreover,  he  had  the  example 
and  authority  of  Christ  himself  for  repudiating  the  ceremonial  part 
of  the  law.  On  this  point  Christ  was  not  less  explicit  and  not  less 
insistent  than  Paul,  as  one  may  see  inMk.  7  :  6-19,  especially  verses 
14,  18,  19.  This  is  then  a  new  emancipation  proclamation  of  the 
great  Apostle,  declaring  once  more  the  absolute  freedom  of  Christian 
believers,  as  to  all  external  matters,  which,  under  somewhat  similar 
circumstances,  he  had  declared  in  his  ringing  message  to  the  Gala- 
tians.  And  the  same  great  principle  is  involved  in  Paul's  treatment 
of  the  question  of  eating  meat  that  had  been  offered  to  idols  (in  Rom. 
14  :  14,  20,  and  i  Cor.  8  :  4,  8). 

17.  Which  are  a  shadow  of  the  things  to  come.  We  use  the  same 
figure  when  we  say,  ''Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before.'* 
The  "ordinances"  of  the  old  dispensation  foreshadowed  that  which 
was  the  coming  reality.  But  the  body  is  Christ's.  The  realities 
typified  by  those  observances  are  to  be  found  in  Christ.  Why  should 
we  go  back  to  the  shadow  when  we  have  the  substance? 

36 


COLOSSIANS  2:19 


prize  °  ^  by  a  voluntary  humility  °and  worshipping  of  the 

angels,  °^  dwelling  in  the  things  which  he  hath  ^  seen, 

19.    °vainly   puffed    up    by    his    fleshly    mind,    °and    not 


»  Or,  of  his  own  mere  will,  by  humility  ^c.      «  Or,  taking  his  stand  upon     3  Many 
authorities,  some  ancient,  insert  not. 


18.  Let  no  man  rob  you  of  your  prize.  Let  no  man  assuming  to  act 
as  umpire  decide  against  you  as  holding  wrong  views,  and  so  deprive 
you  of  the  prize,  the  prize  of  salvation  and  the  hope  of  eternal  life 
(1:5).  By  a  voluntary  humility.  That  is,  by  practising  a  sort  of 
mortification  imposed  upon  himself  by  his  own  will  and  choice.  And 
worshipping  of  the  angels.  In  which  their  self-imposed  and  false 
humility  displays  itself.  It  seems  from  the  connection  here  that  the 
false  teachers  made  much  of  this  self-assumed  humility  from  an  idea 
that  men  were  unfit  to  approach  God  himself  and  must  therefore 
avail  themselves  of  the  mediation  of  angels.  The  explicit  mention 
of  angel  worship  gives  color  to  the  contention  of  those  who  hold  that 
it  was  a  Jewish  cult  and  not  Gnosticism  that  Paul  was  opposing. 
But  see  Introduction.  Dwelling  in  the  things  which  he  hath  seen. 
Some  ancient  witnesses  insert  the  word  "not'*  before  "seen";  but 
the  best  manuscripts  and  the  editors  omit  it.  Without  it  the  meaning 
seems  to  be  that  they,  the  false  teachers,  busy  themselves  with  what 
they  claim  to  have  seen,  with  their  visions.  The  text,  as  well  as  the 
meaning  of  some  of  the  principal  words  in  verse  18,  is  very  uncertain, 
which  makes  it  one  of  the  most  diflScult  verses  in  the  epistle.  Puffed 
up  by  his  fleshly  mind.  This  is  a  fine  touch.  These  teachers,  Paul 
says,  instead  of  being  really  humble,  as  they  professed,  were  really 
puffed  up,  and  were  proud  of  their  professed  humility.  By  his  fleshly 
mind.  Literally,  by  the  mind  of  the  flesh.  This  is  one  of  those 
characteristic  expressions  of  Paul  which  glance  deep  into  human  nature 
and  condense  a  whole  anthropology  in  a  single  phrase.  In  verse  11 
of  this  chapter  he  spoke  of  the  body  of  the  flesh;  here,  of  the  mind  of 
the  flesh.  The  fleshly  nature  dominates  the  body  and  it  dominates  the 
mind  also;  so  that  a  man's  thinking  and  thoughts  are  tinctured,  satu- 
rated, dominated,  by  the  passions  of  the  fleshly  nature.  Vainly.  In 
2  :  8  Paul  called  the  so-called  "philosophy"  of  these  interlopers  "an 
empty  sham";  nevertheless,  they  were  greatly  puffed  up  over  it. 
But  they  were  puffed  up  without  reason.    There  was  nothing  in  it. 

19.  And  not  holding  fast  the  Head.  Not  maintaining  their  con- 
nection with  the  head,  evidently  because  they  had  substituted  others 
for  him  who  is  the  head.  They  were  thus  separated  from  the  head; 
and  being  severed  from  the  head,  that  is,  having  no  longer  their 
thought  fixed  on  Christ  as  the  only  source  of  life,  and  having  ceased 

Z1 


2 :  20  COLOSSIANS 


holding  fast  the  Head,   ^frorn  whom   °all  the  body, 
°being  supplied  and  knit  together  through  the  joints 
and  bands,  °increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God. 
20.       °If  ye  died  with  Christ  °from  the  ^  rudiments  of  the 

*  Or,  elements 

to  trust  him  as  head,  and  having  no  longer  any  feeling  of  dependence 
on  him  as  head,  they  were  as  lifeless  as  a  headless  body  would  be. 
From  whom.  Note,  it  is  from  whom  and  not  from  which,  because 
Paul  is  thinking  of  Christ.  All  the  body.  As  every  part  of  the  whole 
body  depends  for  life  and  efficiency  on  its  being  in  connection  with 
the  head,  and  if  severed  from  the  head  would  be  dead,  just  so  abso- 
lutely does  every  member  of  the  spiritual  body  depend  on  Christ. 
Christ  himself  so  taught,  but  under  a  different  figure,  that  of  the  vine 
and  the  branches,  Jn.  15  :  i-ii.  Being  supplied  and  knit  together 
through  the  joints  and  bands.  Both  these  participles  are  present  and 
the  meaning  is,  being  continuously  supplied  and  knit  together.  The 
word  here  translated  joints  means  touch  or  contact.  The  verb  is 
used  in  verse  21,  touch  not.  Every  part  of  the  body,  then,  is  supphed 
(with  vitality,  sensibility,  and  the  power  of  activity)  through  the 
system  of  contacts  which  keep  it  in  touch  with  the  head  (the  brain). 
As  some  one  has  suggested,  Paul  may  have  gained  this  bit  of  informa- 
tion concerning  the  central  and  vital  function  of  the  brain  from 
Doctor  Luke,  who  was  with  him  (4  :  14).  And  bands.  The  various 
parts  of  the  body  are  united  into  an  organic  whole  through  the 
muscles,  nerves,  tendons,  "any  of  the  connecting  bands  which 
strap  the  body  together."  Thus  Christ  is  the  source  of  all  nourish- 
ment and  the  bond  of  all  unity.  Increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God. 
When  the  various  parts  of  the  church-body  are  in  vital  relation  with 
Christ  as  head,  then,  the  condition  of  growth  being  fulfilled,  God 
effects  the  growth;   for  "it  is  God  that  giveth  the  increase." 

20.  If  ye  died  with  Christ.  This  is  Paul's  way  of  presenting  the 
negative  side  of  the  process  of  spiritual  renewal.  It  is  drawn  out 
more  fully  in  Rom.  6  :  2-5.  If  ye  died  with  Christ,  ye  died  from  the 
world :  ye  severed  your  connection  and  ceased  your  relations  with  it 
as  having  anything  to  do  with  your  salvation.  From  the  rudiments 
of  the  world.  It  seems  strained,  not  to  say  far-fetched  and  fanciful, 
to  consider  these  the  elemental  spirits  or  "angels,"  as  some  recent 
commentators  hold.  By  the  elements  of  the  world  Paul  probably 
means  the  elementary,  or  a-b-c  methods,  the  kindergarten  methods, 
of  making  people  righteous,  as,  for  example,  by  means  of  the  law. 
People  could  not  be  made  righteous  by  legislation,  especially  by 
legislation  concerning  external  observances,  any  more  then  than  now. 

38 


COLOSSIANS  2 :  23 


world,  °why,  as   though  living  in  the  world,  °do  ye 

21.  subject   yourselves    to   ordinances,  ^Handle   not,    nor 

22.  taste,  nor  touch  C^all  which  things  are  to  perish  with 
the  using),  ^after  the  precepts  and  doctrines  of  men? 

23.  °Which  things  °have  indeed  a  show  of  wisdom  °in 
will- worship,  °and  humility,  °and  severity  to  the  body; 

Why,  as  though  living  in  the  world.  This  is  similar  in  spirit  and  form 
to  Paul's  earnest  question  in  Rom.  6  :  2,  "We  who  died  to  sin,  how 
shall  we  any  longer  live  therein?"  So  here:  If,  when  ye  became 
Christians,  ye  were  as  really  separated  from  the  world's  notions 
and  ways  of  seeking  salvation  as  if  ye  had  died,  then  why,  as  if  you 
were  still  living  according  to  these  notions  and  ways,  do  ye  subject 
yourselves  to  ordinances  ?  The  word  is  radically  the  same  as  that  in 
verse  14.  The  ordinances  have  been  abolished,  and  ye  became  dead 
to  them.  How  foolish  to  rake  up  those  old,  defunct  ordinances 
and  seek  to  be  in  bondage  to  them  again!     Similarly  in  Gal.  3:  1-3. 

21.  Handle  not,  nor  taste,  nor  touch.  Note  the  gradation  here  — 
do  not  handle;  no,  do  not  taste;  do  not  even  touch.  These  are  speci- 
mens of  the  ascetic  prohibitions  of  the  false  teachers. 

22.  All  which  things  are  to  perish  with  the  using.  The  things  for- 
bidden in  their  prohibitions  are  used,  and  that  is  the  end  of  them. 
What  folly  to  suppose  that  they  affect  character  or  have  anything  to 
do  with  salvation?  This  is  in  perfect  agreement  with  what  Jesus 
himself  said  on  the  same  subject  inMk.  7  :  14-19.  After  the  precepts 
and  doctrines  of  men.  These  words  are  to  be  taken  with  Why  do  you 
subject  yourselves  to  ordinances?  What  comes  between  is  a  paren- 
thesis proper.  Precepts  refer  to  commandments;  doctrines y  to  sys- 
tematic teaching. 

23.  Which  things.  That  is,  such  precepts  and  teachings.  Have 
indeed  a  show  of  wisdom.  Rather,  they  are  in  repute  as  wisdom, 
they  pass  for  wisdom.  They  seem  to  be  very  reasonable  and  wise 
precepts,  etc.  In  will-worship  =  worship  which  men  offer  of  their 
"mere  will"  (cf.  2  :  18).  They  just  take  it  into  their  head  to  offer 
as  worship  or  service  something  which  they  take  a  notion  to;  and 
naturally  it  is  likely  to  be  something  that  will  appeal  to  some  selfish 
principle  or  gratify  some  selfish  desire.  It  is  likely  to  be  also  some- 
thing not  prescribed  or  required  by  God  and  contrary  to  the  nature 
and  contents  of  faith  in  Christ.  So  it  was  with  the  self-devised  and 
self-imposed  observances  and  asceticisms  of  the  false  teachers  at 
Colossae.  And  humility.  The  word  "will"  is  probably  to  be  taken 
with  this  word  also.  It  was  not  a  genuine  humility,  but  a  self-devised 
and  self-imposed  humility  and  of  a  sort  not  required  or  recognized  by 
God  or  in  harmony  with  faith  in  Christ.     And  severity  to  the  body. 

39 


COLOSSIANS 


%ut  are  not  of  any  ^  value  against  the  indulgence  of 
the  flesh. 

VIII.  What  is  Involved  in  the  Experience  or  having 

DIED  WITH  Christ  to  the  World  (2  :  20) 

and   having    been   raised   with 

HIM  INTO  Newness  of  Life 

(3  :  i)  3  :  1-17 

3.      ^If  then  ye  were  raised  together  with  Christ,  °seek 
the  things  that  are  above,  °where  Christ  is,  ^seated  on 

*  Or,  honour 

The  word  literally  means  unsparingness.  It  is  used  of  an  extreme 
asceticism,  which  did  not  spare  the  body,  which  unsparingly  afflicted 
the  body,  either  to  acquire  merit  or  to  conquer  passion.  But  are  not 
of  any  value  against  the  indulgence  of  the  flesh.  These  words  are 
very  difficult,  among  the  most  difficult  in  the  epistle,  on  a  par,  in  this 
respect,  with  verse  15  of  this  same  chapter.  It  is  believed  by  some 
very  able  scholars  (Hort,  Haupt,  and  others)  that  the  text  is  corrupt. 
This  is  true  of  yet  other  parts  of  this  chapter.  Another  view  of  the 
meaning  of  the  words,  as  they  stand,  seems  more  in  keeping  with  the 
preceding  context;  it  is  this :  "but  are  not  of  any  value,  because  they 
serve  only  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  flesh." 

I.   Heavenly -mindedness,  3  :  1-4 

I.   If  then  ye  were  raised  together  with  Christ.     In  2  :  20  ff.  Paul 

sets  forth  what  should  follow  if  they  had  died  with  Christ;  here,  what, 
if  they  had  been  raised  up  with  Christ.  If  you  did  realize  in  your 
experience  what  is  the  meaning  of  dying  with  Christ,  then  you  died 
from  the  things  that  belong  to  the  world's  ways  of  thinking  and  doing, 
and  you  have  no  more  to  do  with  them;  let  them  alone.  This  is  the 
negative  side.  If  you  realized  in  your  experience  the  meaning  of 
being  raised  up  with  Christ,  it  was  a  resurrection  to  another  life  and 
another  world,  namely,  the  heavenly.  This  is  the  positive  side. 
Seek  the  things  that  are  above.  The  things  that  are  above  are  per- 
haps the  same  that  Paul  means  by  "the  spiritual  blessings  in  the 
heavenly  places"  in  Eph.  i  :  3;  2  :  6.  It  includes  all  the  blessings 
that  belong  to  the  higher,  the  spiritual  life.  Where  Christ  is.  "  It  is 
proper  that  the  thoughts  and  desires  of  the  members  should  be  turned 
to  where  the  Head  already  is."     Seated  on  the  right  hand  of  God.     A 

40 


COLOSSIANS  3:5 


2.  the  right  hand  of  God.     °Set  your  mind  on  the  things 
that  are  above,  °not  on  the  things  that  are  upon  the 

3.  earth.     °For  ye  died,  °and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ 

4.  in  God.     When  Christ,   °who  is  ^  our   life,  shall  be 
manifested,  then  shall  ye  also  with  him  be  manifested 

5.  in  glory. 

°  ^  Mortify    therefore    *^your    members    which   are 

*  Many  ancient  authorities  read  your  "  Gr.  Make  dead. 

figurative  description,  frequently  found  in  the  New  Testament,  of 
Christ's  present  exalted  state  and  rank:  subordinate  to  the  Father, 
but  sovereign  over  all  else. 

2.  Set  your  mind  on  the  things.  Same  word  is  used  in  Rom.  8  :  5. 
"Not  only  seek  heaven,  think  heaven."  Let  your  mind  and  heart 
be  filled  and  permeated  with  the  things  that  belong  to  heaven.  The 
modern  word  for  it  is  heavenly -mindedness  —  which  in  these  days 
is  often  disparaged,  sometimes  ridiculed ;  but,  all  the  same,  it  is  a 
potent  secret  of  overcoming  this  present  world  of  evil  and  of  serving 
unselfishly  the  world  of  men.  Not  on  the  things  that  are  upon  the 
earth.  A  realistic  description  of  those  who  mind  earthly  things  is 
given  by  Paul  in  Phil.  3  :  18,  19. 

3.  For  ye  died.  Not  ye  are  deadj  for  they  had  risen  again  to  a 
new  life,  which  was  spiritual  and  heavenly.  This  way  of  looking  at 
it  is  not  only  Pauline,  it  is  peculiar  to  Paul.  See  again  Rom.  6  :  3-1 1, 
and  compare  Gal.  2  :  20  and  6  :  14.  These  words  are  given  as  the 
reason  for  the  exhortation  of  verse  2.  And  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ 
in  God.  Christ,  according  to  the  teachings  of  the  whole  New  Testa- 
ment, is  now  hidden  from  human  sight  with  God;  and  since  Christ  is 
the  life  of  believers  and  their  life  is  in  him,  their  life  is  thus  hidden  in 
God  also.  In  God.  These  words  imply  Christ's  union  with  God  and 
our  union,  though  not  in  the  same  sense,  with  God  in  him. 

4.  Who  is  our  life.  Paul's  words  in  Gal.  2  :  20  and  Phil,  i  :  21 
form  a  good  commentary  on  this;  and  a  good  commentary  on  the 
whole  verse  is  found  in  i  Jn.  3  :  2. 

2.    Things  to  be  put  off  and  away^  3  :  5-1 1 

5.  Mortify  therefore.  Since  this  is  the  ideal  of  your  new  condition 
and  relations,  —  dead  to  the  things  that  are  upon  the  earth  and  your 
real  life  now  in  union  with  God,  —  you  are  to  realize  this  ideal  by 
actually  putting  to  death  whatever  is  at  war  with  this  ideal.  You 
are  to  carry  out  this  principle  of  death  to  the  world.    Your  members 

41 


3 : 6  COLOSSIANS 


upon   the   earth;    ^fornication,    uncleanness,    passion, 
evil  desire,  °and  covetousness,  the  which  is  idolatry; 

6.  for  which  things'  sake  cometh  the  wrath  of  God  ^  upon 

7.  the  sons  of  disobedience ;  *^^  in  the  which  ye  also  walked 

8.  aforetime,  when  ye  lived  in  these  things.  °But  now 
°put  ye  also  away  all  these;  °anger,  °wrath,  °malice, 
^railing,    ^shameful  speaking   ^out    of    your  mouth: 

»  Some  ancient  authorities  omit  upon  the  sons  of  disobedience.  See  Eph.  5  :  6. 
»  Or,  amongst  whom 

which  are  upon  the  earth.    That  is,  your  hand,  your  eye  (cf.  Matt. 

5  :  29,  30),  or  any  bodily  organ  in  so  far  as  it  is  the  seat  or  organ  of 
lust  and  sin  (Rom.  7  :  23)  is  to  be  made  dead.  This  is  in  perfect 
accord  with  the  way  that  Paul  speaks  of  the  body  as  a  whole,  Rom. 

6  :  6,  ''that  the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed."  It  is  practically  the 
same  in  Col.  2:11.  Fornication,  uncleanness,  passion,  evil  desire. 
Paul  does  not  mean  that  fornication,  uncleanness,  passion,  and  evil 
desire  are  the  members  that  are  to  be  put  to  death;  that  is,  these 
words  are  not  in  apposition  with  the  word  "members,"  as  some  take 
them.  Others  make  them  the  object  of  the  word  "put  away"  in 
verse  8,  below.  This  is  not  necessary.  They  may  be  taken  as  the 
accusative  of  general  reference,  thus:  your  members,  the  members  of 
your  body,  are  to  be  put  to  death,  i.e.,  made  as  good  as  dead,  so  far 
as  fornication  is  concerned,  and  not  only  so  far  as  fornication  is  con- 
cerned, but  dead  as  to  any  form  or  degree  of  lustful  impurity,  heat 
of  carnal  passion,  or  unchaste  longing.  And  covetousness,  the  which 
is  idolatry,  or,  since  it  is  idolatry.  This  vividly  recalls  the  words  of 
Jesus  in  Mt.  6  :  24,  "the  lust  for  wealth  sets  riches  in  the  place  of 
God."  Carnal  impurity  and  covetousness  were  the  two  principal 
vices  of  the  ancient  world  —  and  of  the  modern  world. 

7.  In  the  which.  In  the  practice  of  which  vices  ye  too.  Christians 
though  you  now  are,  formerly  indulged,  when  your  life  was  spent  in 
the  midst  and  atmosphere  of  such  things. 

8.  But  now.  Since  you  have  become  Christians.  Ye  also.  You 
as  well  as  other  Christians.  Put  away.  Put  off,  lay  aside,  have  done 
with,  these  things  once  for  all.  Anger.  A  settled  state  of  ill  feeling. 
Wrath.  An  outburst  of  passion.  Malice.  A  vicious  disposition 
nursing  a  grudge  and  seeking  an  opportunity  to  commit  injury. 
Railing.  Evil  speaking,  slander.  Shameful  speaking.  Abusive 
language.  Out  of  your  mouth.  These  words  are  to  be  taken  with 
railing  and  shameful  speaking,  and  vividly  picture  these  as  pouring 
out  of  the  mouth. 

42 


COLOSSIANS  3:12 


9.   °lie  not  one  to  another;  seeing  that  ye  have  put  off 

10.  °the  old  man  with  his  doings,  °and  have  put  on  the 
new  man,   °which  is  being  renewed  unto  knowledge 

11.  °after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him:  °where 
there  cannot  be  °Greek  and  Jew,  ^circumcision  and 
uncircumcision,  ^barbarian,  Scythian,  °bondman,  free- 

12.  man:  °but  Christ  is  all,  and  in  all. 

9.  Lie  not  one  to  another.  In  Eph.  4  :  25  this  is  differently  and 
more  softly  said:  "  Putting  away  falsehood,  speak  ye  truth  each  one 
with  his  neighbor."  The  old  man.  A  characteristically  Pauline  con- 
ception, found  in  Rom.  6  :  6.  The  old  man,  representing  the  pre- 
Christian  moral  state  as  personified,  was  in  each  case  put  off,  re- 
nounced, by  the  individual  through  his  conversion  to  Christ. 

10.  And  have  put  on  the  new  man.  The  positive  aspect  of  the 
transformation  realized  at  the  time  of  conversion.  The  new  man  is 
the  new  Christian  moral  state  conceived  as  personified  and  spoken 
of  objectively  and  as  becoming  individually  assumed  under  the  figure 
of  being  put  on.  This  putting  off  of  the  old  man  and  putting  on  of 
the  new  is  a  total  change  of  mind  and  attitude  and  is  not  essentially 
different  from  what  takes  place  in  repentance  and  faith.  Which  is 
being  renewed  unto  knowledge.  This  participle  also  is  the  present 
and  expresses  a  continuous  process  and  progress  of  renewal.  The 
continuous  result  of  this  continuous  renewal  is  the  continuous  increase 
of  knowledge.  The  same  thought,  substantially,  is  found  in  Rom. 
12:2  and  Col.  i  :  9.  After  the  image  of  him  that  created  him. 
Probably  a  reference  to  Gen.  i  :  26-28. 

1 1 .  Where  there  cannot  be.  That  is,  where  the  old  nature  has  been 
laid  aside  and  the  new  put  on,  all  are  essentially  the  same,  and  there 
can  no  longer  be  the  differences  that  men  have  in  mind  when  they 
think  and  speak  of  Greek  and  Jew,  etc.  All  such  distinctions  as 
would  repel  and  separate  men  from  each  other  disappear  in  their 
essential  likeness  as  Christians.  Greek  and  Jew.  Distinction  of  race 
and  nationality.  Circumcision  and  uncircumcision.  Distinction  of 
religious  ceremonial.  Barbarian,  Scythian.  The  usual  antithesis  of 
barbarian  is  Greek;  but  as  that  has  already  been  used  as  the  antithesis 
of  Jew,  he  here  uses  a  climax  instead  of  an  antithesis,  and  draws  a 
distinction  in  the  degree  of  barbarism.  There  is,  for  those  who  have 
put  on  the  new  nature,  no  distinction  of  barbarous  and  more  barbarous, 
of  savage  and  lowest  savage.  Bondman,  freeman.  He  returns  to 
the  use  of  antithesis.  What  is  here  meant  is  more  fully  elaborated  in 
what  he  says  to  slaves  and  masters  in  3  :  22-4  :  i.  But  Christ  is 
all.    Christ  is  everything.     If  He  is  in  a  man,  that  supplies  the  lack 

43 


13  COLOSSIANS 


°Put  on  ^therefore,  °as    God's  elect,  holy  and  be- 
loved,   °a  heart   of  compassion,  °kindness,  ^humility, 

13.  ^meekness,  ^longsuffering ;  ^forbearing  one  another, 
and  ^forgiving  each  other,  °if  any  man  have  a  com- 
plaint against  any;    °even  as  Hhe  Lord  forgave  you, 

14.  so  also  do  ye:    °and  above  all  these  things  put  on 

15.  love,    °which    is  the   bond   of  perfectness.     °And  let 

*  Many  ancient  authorities  read  Christ. 

of  everything  else,  such  as  culture,  pedigree,  freedom.  If  Christ  is  in 
a  slave,  that  slave  is  a  freeman;  if  Christ  is  in  a  Scythian  savage, 
that  makes  him  a  nobleman  as  good  as  a  Roman  patrician  or  a  Greek 
philosopher. 

3.    Things  to  he  put  on,  3  :  12-17 

12.  Put  on.  The  following  verses  present  the  positive  aspect,  as 
verses  5-10  presented  the  negative  aspect,  of  the  moral  transforma- 
tion they  were  to  seek  and  to  realize.  Therefore.  Since  you  have  put 
on  the  new  man  (verse  10),  it  would  be  a  contradiction  not  to  put  on 
those  dispositions  and  virtues  which  constitute  the  new  character. 
As  God's  elect.  You  now  constitute  a  new  order  of  nobility  among 
men;  you  are  the  chosen  ones  of  God.  As  members  of  this  new  and 
heavenly  order  also,  noblesse  oblige.  And  since  all  conventional  and 
worldly  distinctions  are  done  away  and  you  must  realize  and  illustrate 
the  unity  of  the  people  of  God,  it  will  be  necessary  in  everyday  life 
to  have  and  practice  the  new  virtues  of  self-effacement  and  mutual 
forbearance,  such  as,  a  heart  of  compassion  =  tenderness  and  sym- 
pathy. Kindness  is  the  opposite  of  severity.  Humility.  Not  toward 
God  but  toward  each  other.  It  is  the  opposite  of  haughtiness. 
Meekness.  The  opposite  of  hardness,  roughness.  The  last  two  are 
the  words  that  Jesus  used  of  himself  (Matt.  11  :  29).  Longsuffering. 
The  opposite  of  resentment  or  revenge. 

13.  Forbearing  one  another.  The  virtues  just  mentioned  are  to 
manifest  themselves  in  active  conduct.  Forgiving  each  other.  Your 
forbearance  is  to  go  to  the  extent  of  forgiving  wrongs  done  your- 
selves. If  any  man  have  a  complaint  against  any.  The  order  in  Greek 
is  more  striking,  //  any  against  any  have  a  complaint.  Even  as  the 
Lord  forgave  you,  so  also  do  ye.  A  good  commentary  on  this  is  con- 
tained in  the  words  of  Jesus,  Matt.  18  :  23  ff. 

14.  And  above  all  these  things.  Love  is  to  be  put  on  like  an  upper 
garment.  Which  is  the  bond  of  perfectness.  In  view  of  what  Paul 
elsewhere  says  of  love  (Rom.  13  :  10,  Gal.  5  :  14)  the  meaning  of  this 

44 


COLOSSIANS 


the  peace  of  Christ  ^  rule  in  your  hearts,  °to  the  which 
also  ye  were  called  in  one  body :   °and  be  ye  thankful. 

i6.  °Let  the  word  of  ^  Christ  °dwell  in  you  richly  °in  all 
wisdom ;  ^teaching  and  admonishing  ^  one  another 
°with  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  °songs,  ^singing 

17.   with  grace  in  your  hearts  unto  God.    And   whatso- 

=  Or.  arbitrate.  »  Some  ancient  authorities  read  the  Lord:  others,  God. 

3  Or,  yourselves 

passage  is  something  like  this:  Love  is  the  one  thing  that  includes, 
binds  in  one,  all  that  goes  to  make  up  perfection;  and  this  is  beauti- 
fully shown  in  that  classic  of  St.  Paul,  i  Cor.  13. 

15.  And  let  the  peace  of  Christ  rule  in  your  hearts.  Let  the  peace 
which  Christ  has  put  in  your  hearts  be  the  ruling  principle  that  shall 
determine  all  questions  and  settle  all  doubts  for  you.  Do  nothing, 
determine  on  nothing,  think  nothing,  tolerate  nothing,  that  would 
destroy  or  disturb  that  peace.  It  is  the  test  of  everything,  by  it 
everything  is  to  be  determined.  In  Phil.  4  :  7  the  meaning  is  prac- 
tically the  same,  though  the  figure  is  different.  There  the  inward 
peace  of  Christ  is  the  sentinel  that  gives  warning  of  danger  and 
guards  from  evil;  here  it  is  the  umpire  which  decides  all  questions 
and  determines  all  conduct.  To  the  which  also  ye  were  called  in  one 
body.  Unto  which  (peace)  ye  were  called  so  as  to  become  one  body, 
or  so  that  ye  are  one  body  as  being  ruled  and  led  by  one  spirit.  This 
idea  and  the  ideal  of  unity  are  beautifully  elaborated  in  the  later  of 
these  twin  epistles  (Eph.  4  :  1-13),  an  illuminating  parallel.  And  be 
ye  thankful.  More  exactly,  continually  become  thankful.  Another 
note  of  Paul's  thanksgiving  habit. 

16.  Let  the  word  of  Christ  =  the  message  about  Christ,  which  is 
equivalent  to  the  gospel  and  its  whole  content.  "  The  gospel  is  the 
word  of  Christ"  (Meyer).  Dwell  in  you.  Let  it  be  continually  in 
your  minds  and  hearts.  This  could  be  done  by  regular  habitual 
reading,  hearing,  meditation,  study,  contemplation,  and  especially 
by  obedience.  In  all  wisdom.  These  words  are  best  taken  with 
those  which  follow,  namely,  teaching  and  admonishing  one  another. 
You  are  to  teach  and  faithfully  to  advise  and  warn  one  another  in 
the  use  of  every  sort  of  wisdom.  With  psalms  and  hymns,  etc.  These 
words  are  not  to  be  construed  with  teaching  and  admonishing,  but 
with  the  words  that  follow.  Psalms  are  probably  those  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Hymns  are  songs  of  praise  to  God.  Songs.  This 
word  in  itself  means  any  kind  of  song,  hence  the  word  spiritual  has 
to  be  added  to  restrict  its  meaning  here.     Singing  with  grace  in  your 

45 


COLOSSIANS 


ever  ye  do,  in  word  or  in  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks  to  God  the  Father  through 
him. 

IX.  The  Relations  of  the  Family  Life  are  to  be 

regulated    with    recognition    of    our 

Subjection  to  Jesus  as  Lord, 

3 • 18-4  : 1 

18.  °Wives,  be  in  subjection  to  your  husbands,  as  is 

19.  fitting  in  the  Lord.     ^Husbands,  love  your  wives,  and 

hearts.  Singing  with  the  realization  and  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
grace  of  God  in  your  hearts.  Coming  from  Paul,  this  is  a  great  tribute 
and  testimony  to  the  value  and  power  of  song. 

Verse  17  is  a  general  rule  for  life.  All  things,  everything  whatso- 
ever, is  to  be  done,  everything  is  to  be  said,  in  the  name,  that  is,  in 
recognition  of  the  authority,  and  in  dependence  on  the  help,  of  him 
who  is  Lord  of  all  —  Jesus.  Our  actions  in  all  the  relations  of  life  are 
to  be  done  in  the  recognition  and  under  the  direction  of  this  rule,  as, 
for  example,  the  domestic  relations:  i.  Wives,  3  :  18;  2.  Husbands, 
3  :  19;  3.  Children,  3  :  20;  4.  Fathers,  3  :  21;  5.  Slaves,  3  :  22-25; 
6.  Masters,  4:1.  Why  does  Paul  stop  to  give  such  minute  directions 
concerning  the  relations  and  duties  of  the  home  life?  Because  doubt- 
less he  recognized  that  if  the  home  life  is  rightly  ordered  and  regulated 
and  made  ideal,  it  would  make  the  rest  easy.  Hence  he  specifies 
each  of  the  relations  of  the  family  life  and  would  keep  them  all  in 
proper  subjection  and  regulation  by  the  enthronement  of  Jesus  as 
Lord  and  Ruler  there.  It  is  well  to  be  reminded  that  Paul  not  only 
did  not  overlook  the  home  and  the  home  life,  he  took  the  pains  to 
give  special  and  earnest  instructions  for  the  realization  of  an  ideal 
home  life. 

18.  Wives,  be  in  subjection  to  your  husbands.  This  and  the  follow- 
ing injunctions  are  examples  under  the  general  exhortation  of  verse 
17.  This  command  to  wives  is  considerably  elaborated  in  the  parallel 
passage  in  Eph.  5  :  22-24,  while  that  to  husbands  is  drawn  out  to 
much  greater  length  in  Eph.  5  :  25-33,  indicating  that  Colossians  was 
written  first. 

19.  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  and  be  not  bitter  against  them.  It 
is  diflScult  to  say  which,  in  some  instances,  is  more  difficult,  whether 
for  wives  to  be  in  subjection  to  their  husbands,  or  for  the  husbands  to 
love  their  wives;    but  both  have  to  be  done  as  a  matter  of  subjection 

46 


COLOSSIANS  3 :  23 


20.  be  not  bitter  against  them.  ^Children,  obey  your 
parents  in  all  things,  for  this  is  well-pleasing  °in  the 

21.  Lord.     ^Fathers,  provoke  not  your  children,  °that  they 

22.  be  not  discouraged.  °^  Servants,  obey  in  all  things 
them  that  are  °your  ^  masters  according  to  the  flesh ; 
°not  with  eyeservice,  °as  men-pleasers,  °but  in  single- 

23.  ness  of  heart,  fearing  the  Lord:    ^whatsoever  ye   do, 

*  Gr.  Bond-servants.         *  Gr.  lords. 

to  the  Lord.    The  full  and  hearty  recognition  of  his  authority  would 
settle  many  difficulties  in  practical  life. 

20.  Children,  obey  your  parents  .  .  .  for  this  is  well-pleasing. 
The  obedience  of  children  is  a  well-pleasing  thing,  an  agreeable  thing, 
an  ethically  beautiful  thing.  In  the  Lord.  It  is  an  especially  well- 
pleasing  and  winsome  thing  when  it  is  done  with  the  spirit  and 
motive  that  are  inspired  by  a  consciousness  of  its  being  done  in  Christ 
and  in  obedience  to  his  will. 

21.  Fathers,  provoke  not  your  children.  The  word  "irritate"  is 
better.  This  irritation  is  caused  by  unjust  or  oversevere  treatment, 
which  the  child,  though  provoked  to  anger,  must  bear  without  any 
hope  of  relief.  Note  that  this  prohibition  is  directed  to  fathers.  This 
was  partly  because  in  the  Graeco-Roman  world  they  were  in  control  of 
the  family  and  partly  because  they  were  more  likely  to  cause  irritation 
by  severity  than  mothers.  Or  possibly  the  word  "fathers"  was 
meant  to  include  both  parents.  That  they  be  not  discouraged.  Under 
protracted  irritation  the  child  is  likely  to  become  despondent,  hope- 
less, sullen,  losing  all  courage  and  spirit  and  giving  up  all  effort  to 
obey. 

22.  Servants.  The  word  is  the  regular  Greek  word  for  slaves. 
They  were  present  and  heard  the  letter  read,  including  the  things  said 
especially  to  them  as  well  as  to  their  masters.  Your  masters  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh.  These  words  imply  another  relation,  belonging  to 
the  higher  spiritual  sphere  where  Christ  is  master.  Not  with  eye- 
service.  This  compound  word,  coined  perhaps  by  Paul,  is  in  the 
plural  number  and  denotes  acts  of  service  done  under  the  eye  of  the 
master,  implying  faithlessness  in  the  master's  absence.  As  men- 
pleasers.  This  word  implies  that  there  was  One  higher  than  men 
whom  they  were  to  seek  to  please.  But  in  singleness  of  heart, 
fearing  the  Lord.  With  the  single  purpose  of  serving  the  Lord  in 
such  a  way  as  to  be  pleasing  to  him,  and  with  fear  lest  in  your  service 
to  your  masters  you  come  short  of  pleasing  the  Lord. 

23.  Whatsoever  ye  do.     In  everything,  no  matter  how  difficult, 

47 


24  COLOSSIANS 


°work  *  heartily,  as  unto  the  Lord,  and  not  unto  men; 

24.  ^knowing  that  from  the  Lord    ye    shall  receive   the 
recompense  of  the  inheritance:    °ye  serve  the  Lord 

25.  Christ.     °For  he  that  doeth  wrong  shall  ^  receive  again 
for  the  wrong  ^  that  he  hath  done :    °and  there  is  no 

4.  respect  of  persons.  ^Masters,  render  unto  your  ser- 
vants that  which  is  just  and  ^  equal;  ^knowing  that 
ye  also  have  a  Master  in  heaven. 

»  Gr.  from  the  soul.        »  Gr.  receive  again  the  wrong.       3  Gr.  equality. 

disagreeable,  or  painful.  Work  heartily,  as  unto  the  Lord,  and  not 
unto  men.  The  presence  and  approval  of  the  Lord  is  more  strongly 
urged  by  Paul  in  the  case  of  slaves  than  of  others  because  their  situa- 
tion was  more  difficult  and  they  needed  more  the  inspiration  of  an 
unusual  motive.  The  word  here  translated  "work"  means  to  carry 
out,  to  complete. 

24.  Knowing  =  Since  ye  know.  If  you  do  not  get  any  recognition 
•or  reward  from  your  earthly  master  for  your  honest  and  faithful  ser- 
vice, you  know  that  you  will  get  a  full  recompense  from  your  master 
in  heaven.  And  that  recompense  will  consist  in  the  future  possession 
of  eternal  blessedness  —  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  glory.  Ye 
serve  the  Lord  Christ.  Many  very  able  commentators  take  this  as 
imperative.  Serve  ye  the  Lord  Christ.  But  the  indicative  suits  the 
connection  better.  The  meaning  is  this:  In  serving  your  earthly 
masters,  as  I  have  said,  you  are  serving  him  who  is  the  Lord  Christ, 
and  therefore  you  may  rest  assured  that  you  shall  by  no  means  lose 
your  reward. 

25.  For  he  that  doeth  wrong  shall  receive  again  for  the  wrong. 
This  evidently  refers  to  the  masters,  though  it  is  said  to  the  slaves 
for  the  purpose  of  assuring  them  that  any  unjust  treatment  they 
might  have  to  endure  from  their  masters  would  be  punished  by  the 
Lord  of  slave  and  master.  And  there  is  no  respect  of  persons.  Before 
that  tribunal  master  and  slave  stand  on  the  same  footing,  and  each 
one  will  be  dealt  with  in  absolute  accordance  with  his  conduct  and 
character,  and  without  reference  to  the  social  relation  he  may  have 
occupied  by  accident  in  this  world.  In  Eph.  6  :  9  this  is  said  to  the 
masters  by  way  of  preventing  them  from  mistreating  their  slaves. 
What  an  impression  these  words  would  make  when  read  in  the  hear- 
ing of  the  whole  church,  where  masters  and  slaves  were  gathered 
together  and  heard  them  read  at  the  same  time! 

I.  Masters.  The  injunctions  to  masters  are  amplified  and  strength- 
ened in  the  corresponding  paragraph  in  Ephesians  (6:9).     Knowing 

48 


COLOSSIANS 


X.  Practical  Instructions  and  Conclusion,  4  :  2-18 

2.  ^Continue   stedfastly  in    prayer,   ^watching    therein 

3.  °with  thanksgiving;    ^withal  praying  for  us  also,  °that 
God  may  open  unto  us  a  door  for  the  word,  °to  speak 

that  ye  also  have  a  Master  in  heaven.  And  treat  your  slaves  as  you 
would  that  that  Master  should  treat  you  —  an  application  to  a  special 
relation  of  the  general  principle  of  that  "rule"  which  comprehends  all 
conduct  and  summarizes  the  ethics  of  all  human  relations.  The 
disproportionate  length  of  the  advice  given  to  slaves  in  the  paragraph 
on  domestic  relations  and  duties  is  not  due,  as  some  suppose,  to  the 
case  of  Onesimus  and  Paul's  desire  to  impress  him  with  the  duties  of 
a  slave.  The  same  proportion  is  observed  in  Ephesians,  where  Ones- 
imus was  not  known.  Furthermore,  Onesimus  had  already  been 
reconstructed  and  brought  by  Paul  in  person  to  the  right  view  and 
the  right  spirit,  as  we  may  see  in  the  charming  epistle  which  Paul 
wrote  to  his  master,  Philemon.  It  was  because  of  his  sympathy  for 
slaves  that  Paul  devoted  more  space  in  the  letter  to  them.  Con- 
cerning slavery  in  Paul's  day.  Dr.  Bruce,  in  his  able  work  on  "The 
Kingdom  of  God,"  has  these  wise  words  to  say:  "  Christianity  does 
not  say  that  slavery  is  wrong  and  follow  up  the  assertion  by  an  agi- 
tation for  abolition  and  by  stirring  up  a  servile  insurrection.  It  says, 
*A  slave  is  a  man  and  may  be  a  noble  man,'  and  leaves  the  idea  to 
work  as  a  leaven,  slowly  but  surely  toward  emancipation  and  free- 
dom." 

I.    Perseverance  in  prayer,  4  :  2-4 

2.  Continue  stedfastly  in  prayer.  Continuing  steadfast  is  the 
opposite  of  growing  weary,  fainting,  giving  it  up.  Watching  therein. 
Since  holding  on  in  prayer  often  tends  to  produce  listlessness,  Paul 
puts  them  on  their  guard  against  this  tendency.  This  does  not  mean 
what  Jesus  meant  when  he  said,  "Watch  and  pray."  With  thanks- 
giving. Here  is  Paul's  thanksgiving  habit  again.  He  joins  thanks- 
giving with  "everything"  and  commends  it  in  everything,  but  espe- 
cially prayer.  There  are  two  very  striking  examples,  one  in  Phil. 
4  ;  6,  one  in  i  Thess.  5:17. 

3.  Withal  praying  for  us  also.  A  beautiful  example  of  Paul's 
confidence  in  his  brother  Christians  and  his  dependence  on  their 
cooperation  and  help.  That  God  may  open  unto  us  a  door  for  the 
word.  That  is,  for  the  gospel.  Paul  did  not  ask  their  prayers  for  his 
personal  benefit,  or  for  his  comfort,  or  even  for  relief  and  deliverance 
from  affliction  and  suffering,  but  only  that  God  would  give  him  an 
opportunity  to  make  known  the  glad  tidings.  To  speak  the  mystery 
of  Christ.    The  gospel  had  come  to  Paul  as  the  unveiling  of  a  secret 

E  49 


4  COLOSSIANS 


the  mystery  of  Christ,  °for  which  I  am  also  in  bonds; 

4.  °that  I  may  make  it  manifest,  as  I  ought  to  speak. 

5.  °Walk    in    wisdom    ^toward    them  that  are  without, 

6.  °^  redeeming  the  time.     °Let  your  speech  be  always 

'  Gr.  buying  up  the  opportunity. 

which  before  was  hidden.  That  secret  was  Christ,  Christ  the  life- 
giving  spirit.  In  order  to  understand  this  one  must  recall  what  Paul 
said  about  not  knowing  Christ  after  the  flesh  (2  Cor.  5  :  16)  and  what 
he  says  about  God's  revealing  his  Son  in  him  (Gal.  i:  16)  and  as  a 
life-giving  spirit  (i  Cor.  15  :  45).  In  his  capacity  and  office  of  life- 
giving  spirit  J  men  cannot  discern,  cannot  discover,  cannot  know, 
Christ.  He  must  be  revealed.  Compare  i  Cor.  2  :  10,  12.  Thus 
Christ  was  Paul's  secret,  Paul's  gospel,  Paul's  all  in  all.  For  which 
I  am  also  in  bonds.  These  words  indicate  what  he  probably  meant 
when  he  asked  them  to  pray  that  God  would  open  unto  him  a  door  for 
the  word,  i.e.,  the  gospel.  He  tells  Philemon  that  he  hoped  through 
the  prayers  of  himself  and  the  other  Colossians  to  be  liberated, 
Philem.  22. 

4.  That  I  may  make  it  manifest,  as  I  ought  to  speak.  He  still  has 
in  mind  the  conception  of  Christ  as  a  mystery,  an  unrevealed  secret. 
He  asks  them  to  pray  not  only  that  God  would  give  him  an  opportunity 
for  preaching  the  glad  tidings,  but  that  he  will  enable  Paul  to  unveil, 
make  manifest,  the  secret  in  the  way  that  he  ought.  How  unfailing  and 
how  beautiful  is  Paul's  humility! 

2.    Their  duty  toward  those  who  were  not  believers,  4  :  5-6 

5.  Toward  them  that  are  without.  His  request  concerning  an 
opportunity  to  make  Christ  known  has  turned  his  heart  toward  them 
that  are  outside  the  church  and  without  the  knowledge  of  Christ. 
So  he  reminds  the  Colossians  of  their  relation  and  debt  to  the  out- 
siders. Walk  in  wisdom.  Conduct  yourselves  wisely.  So  conduct 
yourselves  and  your  way  and  manner  of  living  as  to  attract,  impress, 
convince,  convict  outsiders.  Redeeming  the  time.  The  marginal 
rendering  is  not  only  more  accurate,  it  is  incomparably  better  every 
way.  They  are  to  pay  the  cost,  whatever  it  may  be,  of  improving 
the  opportunity,  as  it  occurs,  in  every  case  (note  the  definite  article), 
the  opportunity  of  winning  those  who  are  still  unsaved.  This  will 
cost  something.  It  will  sometimes  cost  selfish  ease,  personal  con- 
venience, comfort,  reputation,  money;  in  any  case,  in  every  case, 
however,  they  are  to  pay  the  price,  purchase  for  themselves  the 
opportunity,  and  save  their  unsaved  neighbors  or  friends. 

6.  Let  your  speech  be  always.  The  tactful  use  of  speech  was  an 
example  of  the  means  by  which  they  were  to  conciliate  and  win  to 

50 


COLOSSIANS 


°with  grace,  ^seasoned  with  salt,  °that  ye  may  know 

7.  °how  ye  ought  to  answer  each  one.       ^ 

All  my  affairs  °shall  Tychicus   make   known  unto 
you,  the   beloved   brother  and   faithful   minister   and 

8.  fellow-servant  in  the  Lord :    whom  I  have  sent  unto 
you  for  this  very  purpose,  that  ye  may  know  our  estate, 

9.  and  that  he  may  comfort  your  hearts ;  ^together  with 
Onesimus,  the  faithful  and  beloved  brother,  °who  is  one 

faith  those  who  were  still  unbelievers.  With  grace.  With  pleasing- 
ness.  Compare  Rom.  15  :  2,  "Let  each  one  of  us  please  his  neighbor 
for  his  good  and  unto  his  edification."  By  the  winsomeness  of  their 
conversation  they  were  to  try  to  win  their  heathen  friends.  Seasoned 
with  salt.  Who  has  not  heard  of  the  Attic  salt?  Brightness,  clever- 
ness, wit,  is,  in  this  sense,  the  salt  of  language.  It  gives  it  flavor, 
makes  it  taste.  But  Paul  hardly  means  that  here.  He  has  already 
commended  pleasingness  of  speech,  and  does  not  need  to  do  it  again. 
Salt  is  the  common  antiseptic  of  the  world.  It  preserves  from  cor- 
ruption and  renders  wholesome.  The  opposite  would  be  that  which 
Paul  forbids  in  his  directions  about  conversation  in  Eph.  4  :  29,  "Let 
no  corrupt  speech  proceed  out  of  your  mouth."  Their  conversation 
was  to  be  pleasing,  gracious,  but  it  was  also  to  be  pure  and  whole- 
some. That  ye  may  know.  In  short,  he  says,  the  thing  is  to  know. 
How  ye  ought  to  answer  each  one.  Your  conversation  is  to  be  fitting 
in  each  particular  case,  exactly  adapted  to  each  individual  person. 
What  a  standard  1  and  yet  within  the  reach  of  e"?ry  Christian  who 
has  the  disposition  and  the  willingness  to  do  what  Paul  here  commends. 

3.   The  mission  and  messages  of  Tychicus  and  Onesimus j  4  :  7-9 

7.  Shall  Tychicus  make  known  unto  you.  Tychicus  was  the  bearer 
of  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (so  called)  as  well  as  of  this  epistle.  In 
Eph.  6  :  21,  22  almost  the  same  language  is  used  as  here. 

9.  Together  with  Onesimus.  Onesimus  was  the  runaway  slave 
of  Philemon.  He  had  become  a  Christian  while  with  Paul  in  Rome, 
and  he  was  sent  back  to  his  master  by  Paul.  The  full  history  of  the 
case  is  given  in  the  beautiful  letter  which  Paul  wrote  to  Philemon  and 
sent  by  the  hand  of  Onesimus  at  the  same  time  that  the  epistle  to  the 
Colossians  and  that  to  the  Ephesians  (so  called)  were  sent.  Who  is 
one  of  you.  Onesimus  had  lived  at  Colossae  before  he  ran  away  and 
went  to  Rome.  This  is  proof  that  Philemon  lived  at  Colossae  and 
was  one  of  them,  though  his  name  is  not  mentioned  in  the  epistle  to 
the  Colossians. 

51 


COLOSSIANS 


of  you.    They  shall  make  known  unto  you  all  things 
that  are  done  here. 

10.  Aristarchus  my  fellow-prisoner  saluteth  you,  and  Mark, 
the  cousin  of  Barnabas  (touching  whom  ye  received 
commandments;    if  he  come  unto  you,  receive  him), 

11.  and  Jesus,  which  is  called  Justus,  who  are  of  the  circum- 
cision: these  only  are  my  fellow- workers  unto  the 
kingdom  of  God,  men  that  have  been  a  comfort  unto 

12.  me.  °Epaphras,  who  is  one  of  you,  a  ^  servant  of  Christ 
Jesus,  saluteth  you,  always  striving  for  you  in  his 
prayers,  that  ye  may  stand  perfect  and  fully  assured  in 

13.  all  the  will  of  God.  For  I  bear  him  witness,  that  he 
hath  much  labour  for  you,  and  °for  them  in  Laodicea, 

14.  and  for  them  in  Hierapolis.   Luke,  the  beloved  physician, 

15.  and  Demas  salute  you.     °Salute  the  brethren  that  are 

*  Gr.  bond-servant. 

4.   Greetings  from  Paul  and  those  who  were  with  him,  4  :  10-17 

10.  Aristarchus,  Mark,  Demas,  and  Luke  are  mentioned  in  the 
letter  to  Philemon,  verses  23  and  24.  Aristarchus  was  aThessalonian 
and  a  travelling  companion  of  Paul  (Acts  19  :  29;  27  :  2).  Mark, 
who  on  a  former  occasion  (Acts  15  :  37,  38)  deserted  Paul,  was  now 
again  with  him  in  prison  and  is  commended  to  the  Colossians.  Epa- 
phras,  who  is  one  of  you.  We  learn  from  chap,  i  :  7  that  Epaphras, 
who  was  the  founder  of  the  church  of  Colossae  and  had  for  some  time 
been  their  pastor,  was  with  Paul  in  prison  at  Rome  when  this  letter  was 
written.  It  was  he  who  had  told  Paul  about  the  situation  at  Colossae 
which  occasioned  the  writing  of  the  present  epistle  (chap,  i  :  8). 
Whether  he  was  detained  as  a  prisoner  at  Rome  or  chose  to  remain 
there  with  Paul  of  his  own  accord  cannot  be  known.  However,  he  was 
still  interested  in  the  Colossians  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  unceas- 
ingly engaged  in  "  agonizing  "  prayer  for  them.  For  them  in  Laodicea, 
and  for  them  in  Hierapolis.  Epaphras  had  evidently  been  pastor  of 
the  churches  at  Laodicea  and  Hierapolis  as  well  as  of  that  at  Colossae. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  circuit-rider  with  a  circuit  of  three 
appointments.  Salute  the  brethren  that  are  in  Laodicea.  Why  Paul 
did  not  send  his  salutations  to  the  church  at  Hierapohs  also,  we  do  not 
know. 

52 


COLOSSIANS 


in  Laodicea,  and  ^  Nymphas,  and  the  church  that  is  in 

i6.  ^  their  house.    And  °when  ^  this  epistle  hath  been  read 

among  you,  cause  that  it  be  read  also  in  the  church 

of  the  Laodiceans;    °and  that  ye  also  read  the  epistle 

17.  from  Laodicea.  And  °say  to  Archippus,  Take  heed 
to  the  ministry  which  thou  hast  received  in  the  Lord, 
that  thou  fulfil  it. 

18.  °The  salutation  of  me  Paul  with  mine  own 
hand.    °Remember  my  bonds.      °Grace  be  with  you. 

» The  Greek  may  represent  Nympha.    '  Some  ancient  authorities  read  her.    3  Gr.  the 

16.  When  this  epistle  hath  been  read  among  you.  That  is,  when  it 
had  been  read  publicly  in  the  hearing  of  the  assembled  church  of 
the  Colossians,  they  were  to  send  it  to  Laodicea,  about  eleven  miles 
distant,  and  have  it  read  to  the  assembled  church  at  that  place.  And 
that  ye  also  read  the  epistle  from  Laodicea.  This  is  a  clause  of  keen 
interest.  It  has  led  many  able  scholars  to  the  belief  that  the  letter 
referred  to  is  that  which  is  called  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  This  is 
probably  the  case.  The  so-called  letter  to  the  Ephesians  was  evi- 
dently not  a  letter  for  the  Ephesians  only,  but  a  circular  letter  which 
was  to  be  sent  to  different  churches  in  that  part  of  Asia  Minor  where 
Ephesus  and  Laodicea  were  situated.  One  copy  of  the  letter  would 
be  —  and  was  —  sent  to  Ephesus,  and  another  to  Laodicea,  and  so  on. 
The  reason  why  Paul  tells  the  Colossians  to  get  and  read  the  letter  from 
Laodicea  and  not  from  Ephesus  was  that  Laodicea  was  nearer.  But 
see  the  Introduction  to  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  in  this  volume. 

17.  Say  to  Archippus.  Who  was  Archippus?  He  is  mentioned  by 
Paul  in  the  opening  sentence  of  his  epistle  to  Philemon  in  such  a  way 
as  to  suggest  that  he  was  in  some  sense  a  member  of  Philemon's 
household.  He  is  called  by  Paul  "our  fellow-soldier."  But  he  seems 
to  be  a  little  slow,  and  Paul  here  sends  him  a  special  warning  to  the 
effect  that  he'd  better  wake  up  and  attend  to  the  special  ministry  which 
was  committed  to  him.  He  may  have  been  the  successor  of  Epaphras 
as  pastor  of  the  Colossian  church. 

18.  The  salutation  of  me  Paul  with  mine  own  hand.  When  Paul 
goes  to  send  his  own  greetings,  he  takes  the  pen  from  the  amanuensis 
and  writes  this  sentence  with  his  own  hand.  Feeling  the  weight  of 
the  handcuff  on  his  arm,  he  adds,  pathetically,  Remember  my  bonds. 
But  instantly  he  forgets  himself  and  thinks  of  them  with  the  prayer, 
Grace  be  with  you,  a  great  prayer  when  we  recall  what  grace  meant 
to  Paul  and  what  it  means  in  his  noble  epistles. 

53 


INTRODUCTION 
I.  To  Whom  was  "Ephesians"  Addressed? 

It  is  a  misnomer  and  quite  misleading  to  call  this  the 
epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  The  so-called  epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians  was  not  written  to  the  Ephesians  —  or  for  the  Ephesians, 
—  alone.  If  so,  it  could  not  have  been  written  by  Paul.  We 
must  give  up  either  our  belief  that  it  was  written  for  the 
Ephesians  or  our  belief  that  it  was  written  by  Paul.  If  Paul 
wrote  it,  it  could  not  have  been  written  for  the  Ephesians, 
as  the  following  considerations  will  show: 

I.  We  know  that  Paul  preached  at  Ephesus  (Acts  i8  :  19) ; 
that  he  returned  there  a  second  time  (Acts  19  :  i) ;  that  he 
preached  for  three  months  in  the  synagogue  at  Ephesus 
(Acts  19  :  8) ;  that  he  then  preached  there  two  years  longer 
in  a  public  hall  and  with  such  success  that  "  all  they  which 
dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord,  both  Jews  and 
Greeks  "  (Acts  19  :  10).  It  is  probable  also  that  he  remained 
there  some  time  after  this  (Acts  19  :  22;  20  :  i).  At  any 
rate  he  himself  reminds  the  elders  of  the  church  at  Ephesus 
that  he  spent  three  years  as  their  pastor  and  the  personal 
friend  and  adviser  of  each  one  of  the  members  of  the  church 
there  (Acts  20  :  31):  ^'Remember,"  he  says,  "that  by  the 
space  of  three  years  I  ceased  not  to  admonish  every  one 
night  and  day."  His  personal  relation  to  the  elders  of  the 
church  was  so  intimate  and  affectionate  that  their  final 
separation  from  him  makes  one  of  the  most  pathetic  scenes 
in  the  New  Testament  (Acts  20  :  36-38).  If  we  may  judge 
by  the  history  that  we  have  in  the  book  of  Acts,  Paul's  rela- 
tion with  the  church  at  Ephesus  was  more  personal,  more 
intimate,  more  tender  and  affectionate,  than  with  any  other 
church.  * 

55 


INTRODUCTION 


2.  We  know  in  general  that  Paul's  personal  attachments 
were  very  strong  and  tender.  It  was  especially  so  at  Ephe- 
sus,  if  we  may  trust  the  beautiful  story  of  Acts  20  :  36-38. 
He  knew  and  he  loved  men,  not  by  the  mass,  but  by  the  man : 
Acts  20  :  31,  ^^  every  one  of  you  with  tears  J^ 

3.  We  know  that  on  this  account  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  when  he  wrote  letters  to  various  churches  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  mentioning  people  by  name  and  sending  special 
personal  greetings  or  messages  to  them.  On  account  of  his 
long  and  pecuUarly  intimate  association  with  the  members 
of  the  church  at  Ephesus,  we  should  naturally  and  con- 
fidently expect  to  find  more  personal  greetings  and  messages 
in  a  letter  written  to  them  than  in  any  other  of  all  his  epistles. 
But  such  is  not  the  case  in  this  so-called  epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians.  In  it  we  do  not  find  the  slightest  personal  reference 
to  a  single  individual  from  beginning  to  end.  He  does  not 
once  address  them  as  "brethren."  The  letter  does  not 
betray  the  slightest  intimation  that  he  ever  had  the  slightest 
personal  association  with  them,  whether  as  a  church  or  as 
individuals. 

4.  Indeed  what  he  says  in  the  epistle  itself  implies  that 
his  knowledge  of  them  was  by  hearsay  and  not  of  a  per- 
sonal character  at  all:  Eph.  i  :  15;  4  :  20,  21. 

5.  What  he  says  in  3  :  2-4  implies  that  their  knowledge 
of  him  was  by  hearsay  and  not  personal.  All  of  which 
would  be  not  only  unnatural  and  unaccountable,  but  in- 
conceivable, in  a  letter  written  to  and  for  the  church  at 
Ephesus  by  the  Apostle  Paul. 

II.  Authorship  of  the  Epistle 

Two  suppositions  are  open  to  us;  two  explanations  are 
possible. 

1.  Paul  did  not  write  the  epistle. 

2.  Paul  wrote  it  to  some  other  church  or  churches.  Let 
us  examine  the  first  of  these  suppositions. 

(i)  The  letter  purports  to  have  been  written  by  Paul. 

S6 


INTRODUCTION 


His  name  is  the  first  word  in  it  and  it  opens  with  his  regular 
form  of  salutation,  i  :  i,  2.  Of  course,  this  does  not  prove 
that  Paul  wrote  it.  But  it  excludes  the  doubt  of  the  Pauline 
authorship  which  the  absence  of  this  regular  Pauline  formula 
would  suggest. 

(2)  He  speaks  again  in  his  own  name  in  a  passage  of 
considerable  length  and  of  extraordinary  significance,  the 
whole  substance,  spirit,  style,  and  language  of  which  are 
vibrant  with  his  unique  and  compelling  individuality. 
This  is  the  remarkable  paragraph  in  3  :  1-13.  Undesigned 
echoes  of  this  same  Pauline  sort  occur  at  4:1,  "I  the 
prisoner  in  the  Lord,"  and  at  6  :  20,  "  For  which  I  am  an 
ambassador  in  chains."  The  epistle  has  the  unmistakable 
Pauline  throb  throughout. 

(3)  It  is,  throughout,  in  full,  unbroken  accord  with  what 
we  know  of  St.  Paul's  unique  position  in  the  second  third 
of  the  first  century.  The  contents  of  the  epistle  suit  Paul's 
relation  to  the  Gentile  world  as  their  apostle;  his  relation 
to  the  question  of  Jew  and  Gentile  as  shown  in  Acts  and 
Romans;  and  the  relation  of  Jewish  and  Gentile  believers, 
as  may  be  seen  in  a  comparison  of  Eph.  2  :  11-22  with 
Rom.  II  :  17,  18.  The  epistle  claims  for  the  Gentiles  an 
equality  and  union  with  the  Jews  in  entire  harmony  with 
Paul's  position  as  shown  in  Romans  and  Galatians,  but 
inconceivable  in  the  second  century,  when  the  Gentiles  had 
attained  not  only  a  recognized  position  but  a  predominance 
in  the  church. 

(4)  The  epistle  is  saturated,  not  only  with  the  spirit  of 
Paul,  but  with  the  great  outstanding  conceptions  which  are 
characteristically,  uniquely,  Pauline. 

Take  out  of  the  epistle  all  that  is  Pauline,  and  about  all 
that  will  be  left  will  be  the  punctuation  points  and  the 
figures  that  indicate  chapter  and  verse.  Nobody  ever 
claimed  that  Paul  wrote  these.  Here  are  some  of  the 
great  '* Paulinisms "  of  the  epistle;  election,  foreordi nation, 
adoption,  redemption  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  the 
sovereignty  of  God,  the  grace  of  God,  salvation  by  faith, 

57 


INTRODUCTION 


repudiation  of  works  and  exclusion  of  boasting,  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  law,  the  inclusion  and  call  of  the  Gentiles,  the 
revelation  to  him  of  this  secret,  his  office  as  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  the  fulness  of  the  times,  Christ  the  head  of  the  body, 
the  church  Christ's  body,  the  members  of  the  church  mem- 
bers of  one  another,  the  unity  of  the  spirit,  diversity  of  gifts 
and  functions,  the  condition  of  unregenerate  heath  nism 
and  of  unregenerate  Judaism,  the  old  man,  the  new  man, 
the  new  creation  in  Christ,  his  Christian  mysticism,  the 
believer  is  in  Christ  and  Christ  in  the  believer,  his  ethical 
ideal  and  the  way  of  realizing  it,  his  emphasis  on  thanks- 
giving, his  philosophy  of  history,  his  "passion  for  the  abso- 
lute," his  peculiarities  of  style,  long  involved  sentences, 
broken  grammatical  constructions,  his  digressions,  his 
figures,  his  mixing  of  figures,  the  church  a  body,  a  building, 
a  temple,  his  fondness  for  martial  figures. 

(5)  It  is  now  universally  agreed  that  Colossians  was 
written  by  Paul.  That  being  so,  then  everything  in  Colos- 
sians that  is  reproduced  in  Ephesians  or  assumed  in  Ephe- 
sians,  though  not  elsewhere  found  in  PauPs  epistles,  is 
Pauline. 

(6)  It  is  now  generally  accepted  also  that  the  epistle  men- 
tioned in  Col.  4  :  16  as  the  epistle  from  Laodicea  is  our 
epistle;  and  if  so,  it  was  written  by  Paul. 

(7)  The  Pauline  authorship  of  the  epistle  is  now  accepted 
by  practically  all  scholars,  such  as  Harnack,  Jiilicher,  etc. 
(See  Jiilicher,  Introduction,  pages  146,  147,  New  York, 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1904.) 

If  Paul  did  not  write  it,  there  must  have  been  two  Pauls ; 
as  some  one  said  concerning  the  PhcEdo:  if  Plato  did  not 
write  the  Phcedo,  there  were  two  Platos. 

III.  Destination  and  Purpose  of  the  Epistle 

Explanation  No.  i  then  falls  to  the  ground.  Paul  did 
write  the  epistle.  It  remains  to  examine  explanation  No.  2, 
namely,  that  it  was  not  written  for  the  Ephesians  alone,  but 

58 


INTRODUCTION 


for  others  than  the  Ephesians  or  others  with  the  Ephesians. 
But  on  that  supposition  how  are  we  to  explain  the  words  at 
Ephesus  in  the  very  first  verse?  It  will  be  noticed  that  a 
note  in  the  margin  of  the  Revised  Version  records  the  fact 
that  "Some  very  ancient  authorities  omit  the  words  at 
Ephesus.^'  The  two  oldest  and  best  uncial  manuscripts  in 
existence  omit  them.  These  are  the  Vatican  manuscript 
(B)  and  the  Sinaitic  manuscript  (i<).  Besides  these,  there 
is  also  a  cursive  manuscript  which  is  designated  6f  that 
omits  them.  These,  though  few  in  number,  are  of  such  great 
value  and  authority  that  so  great  a  scholar  as  Bishop  Light- 
foot  says  that  a  reading  in  St.  PauPs  epistles  supported  by  ^( 
and  B  and  6f  almost  always  represents  the  original  text 
itself.  Basil,  a  church  father  of  the  fourth  century,  expressly 
rejects  the  words  at  Ephesus.  Speaking  of  the  text  with 
these  words  omitted,  he  says,  "Thus  did  our  predecessors 
hand  it  down  to  us  and  thus  we  have  found  it  in  the  old 
witnesses  or  copies."  Origen  in  the  third  century  distinctly 
says  the  words  at  Ephesus  were  not  in  the  text  which  he 
used;  and  he  proceeds  to  give  a  metaphysical  sense  to  the 
remaining  words  as  they  stand  without  them.  Tertullian 
in  the  second  century  says  that  Marcion,  a  great  Gnostic 
teacher  of  the  same  century  (about  145  to  150  a.d.),  called 
this  the  epistle  to  the  Laodiceans ;  and  in  refuting  that  view 
Tertullian  does  not  cite  these  words  in  the  text,  as  he  cer- 
tainly would  have  done  had  they  been  in  his  text,  but  quotes 
only  the  title,  "  To  the  Ephesians,"  which,  of  course,  is  and 
was  no  part  of  the  epistle  itself. 

These  witnesses,  bearing  their  own  testimony  and  repre- 
senting authorities  more  ancient  and  numerous  than  them- 
selves, make  it  practically  certain  that  the  words  at  Ephesus 
were  not  in  the  original  text.  In  other  words  Paul  did  not 
write  them  there  at  all.  In  this  view  practically  all 
the  textual  critics  and  the  editors  agree.  Furthermore, 
if  the  words  at  Ephesus  had  been  in  the  original,  we  can 
think  of  no  reason  for  leaving  them  out.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  they  were  not  in  the  original,  it  is  easy  to  see  why  and  how 

59 


INTRODUCTION 


they  would  get  into  some  manuscripts  and  so  be  handed 
down  in  some  manuscripts.  Besides,  if  Paul  himself  wrote 
them  or  had  them  written  in  the  original,  that  meant  that 
the  letter  was  intended  for  the  Ephesians  alone,  as  the 
epistle  to  the  Colossians  was  intended  for  the  Cclossians 
alone;  and  we  could  never  understand  or  explain  why  he 
should  write  to  the  church  which  he  knew  more  intimately 
and  affectionately  than  any  other  a  letter  totally  destitute  of 
any  personal  allusion  or  tender  expression. 

The  probability,  then,  is  that  this  was  a  circular  letter 
intended  for  the  various  churches  of  the  Roman  province 
of  Asia,  including  Laodicea,  Hierapolis,  Smyrna,  Sardis, 
Philadelphia,  Ephesus,  and  others;  and  a  copy  of  it  was 
sent  by  Tychicus  to  each  one  of  these  congregations  (6  :  20, 
21).  The  seven  churches  to  whom  the  letters  in  Revelation, 
chapters  II  and  III,  were  addressed  belonged  doubtless  to 
the  same  group.  And  similarly,  Peter  addresses  his  first 
epistle  to  the  churches  of  the  region  of  Asia  Minor  as  a  cir- 
cular letter:  *^  Peter,  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  elect 
who  are  sojourners  of  the  Dispersion  in  Pontus,  Galatia, 
Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia"  (i  Pt.  1:1). 

Moreover,  in  the  epistle  to  the  Colossians  Paul  directs 
them  to  cause  that  epistle  to  be  read  in  the  church  of  the 
Laodiceans  and  charges  them  to  get  and  read  "the  epistle 
from  Laodicea"  (Col.  4:16).  This  "  letter  from  Laodicea" 
was  in  all  probability  our  so-called  epistle  to  the  Ephesians. 
But  in  writing  to  the  Colossians  Paul  directed  them  to  get 
the  copy  of  it  which  had  been  sent  to  Laodicea,  because 
Laodicea  was  not  far  from  Colossae,  being  only  about  eleven 
miles  distant.  Lightfoot  expresses  the  now  generally  ac- 
cepted view  on  this  subject  when  he  says :  "  There  are  good 
reasons  for  believing  that  St.  Paul  here  (Col.  4  :  16)  alludes 
to  the  so-called  epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  which  was,  in  fact,  a 
circular  letter  addressed  to  the  principal  churches  of  pro- 
consular Asia.  Tychicus  was  obliged  to  pass  through  Laod- 
icea on  his  way  from  Rome  to  Colossae  and  would  leave  a  copy 
of  the  letter  there  before  the  Colossian  letter  was  delivered." 

60 


INTRODUCTION 


How,  then,  did  the  letter  come  to  be  called  the  epistle  to 
the  Ephesians?  As  the  first  copy  of  the  letter  would 
naturally  be  delivered  at  Ephesus  by  Tychicus  going  from 
Rome  to  Colossae;  as  Ephesus  was  the  metropolis  of  pro- 
consular Asia  and  its  church  would  therefore  stand  first  in 
that  whole  region;  and  as  the  church  at  Ephesus  had  been 
founded  by  Paul,  had  had  specially  intimate  relations  with 
Paul  and  a  special  claim  on  him,  —  she  would  very  naturally 
come  to  regard  the  epistle  as  specially  her  own.  This 
would  as  naturally  be  conceded;  and  when  Paul's  epistles 
were  collected  together  and  a  designation  was  needed  for 
this  one,  nothing  would  be  more  natural  and  appropriate 
than  that  the  Ephesians  should  be  allowed  to  call  it  theirs. 
So  "  To  the  Ephesians''  was  written  over  it  for  a  title.  This 
title  soon  found  its  way  into  the  text  in  some  copies  and  so 
it  stands  in  some,  but  not  in  the  very  best,  manuscripts,  to 
this  day.  The  second  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  was  ad- 
dressed by  Paul  "  to  the  church  which  is  at  Corinth  with  all 
the  saints  which  are  in  the  whole  of  Achaia^^  (Greece), 
2  Cor.  I  :  I.  And  yet  when  a  title  was  needed  for  this 
epistle,  it  was  "To  the  Corinthians  B,"  and  not  to  the 
Christians  of  Achaia.     A  very  instructive  parallel  is  this. 

But  how  are  we  to  read  the  verse  with  the  words  at  EphC" 
stis  left  out? 

Some  suppose  that  a  blank  space  was  left  in  the  original 
copies  of  the  letter,  in  which  the  name  of  each  particular 
church  was  to  be  written  as  Tychicus  delivered  it,  or  was  to 
be  supplied  orally  by  him  who  read  the  letter  to  the  as- 
sembled church.  On  this  supposition,  however,  we  should 
expect  to  find  some  manuscripts  with  one  or  another  of  these 
local  designations,  whereas  there  is  not  one.  It  is  either 
Ephesus  or  none.  Moreover,  there  is  a  manifest  incon- 
gruity in  saying  "  the  saints  who  are  at  Ephesus  [or  Laod- 
icea]  and  faithful,  in  Christ  Jesus."  Being  at  Ephesus  and 
being  faithful  in  Christ  Jesus  are  heterogeneous  thoughts 
which  it  is  harsh  to  couple  together.  It  is  better  to  read  the 
sentence  thus :  "  To  the  saints  who  are  also  (or  indeed)  faithful 

6i 


INTRODUCTION 


in  Christ  Jesus  ";  though  this  is  not  entirely  free  from  diffi- 
culty. The  collocation  of  these  words  in  Col.  i  :  2  is 
similar  but  not  identical.  The  words  ^'  who  are  also  faith- 
ful in  Christ  Jesus  "  seem  to  be  intended  as  a  more  exact 
description,  a  closer  identification,  of  those  he  has  called 
saints;  for  that  word,  meaning  set  apart  for  God,  might 
be  used  also  of  the  Jews  (see  2  :  19).  At  any  rate,  the 
sentence  is  capable  of  a  grammatical  construction  and  yields 
a  good  sense  without  the  words  at  Ephesus,  We  should 
then  cease  to  think  of  this  epistle  as  the  epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians  and  think  of  it  as  one  which,  free  from  local  associa- 
tions or  limitations  or  personal  interests,  was  written  for 
and  addressed  to  Paul's  beloved  Gentiles,  whose  Apostle 
he  was  and  rejoiced  to  be.  Take  a  few  sentences  of  the 
epistle :  "  Wherefore  remember  that  aforetime  ye,  the  Gentiles, 
were  separate  from  Christ,"  etc.  This  whole  paragraph 
(2  :  11-22)  pulsates  with  the  interest  which  he  feels  for 
his  Gentiles.  Take  3  :  1-13,  "  For  which  cause,  I  Paul 
the  prisoner  of  Christ  Jesus  in  behalf  of  you  Gentiles,"  etc. 
This  paragraph  fairly  throbs  with  the  joyful  consciousness 
he  has  of  the  supreme  honor  and  yet  fearful  responsibility 
of  his  selection  and  consecration  by  God  to  the  task  of  mak- 
ing effective  the  revelation  that  the  Gentiles  were  included 
equally  with  the  Jews  in  God's  gracious  provision  of  salva- 
tion. Looked  at  from  this  new  point  of  view,  it  becomes 
a  new  epistle.  It  might  well  be  called  The  Epistle  of  Paul 
to  the  Gentile  Christians  of  Asia. 

With  this  view  of  its  destination  we  are  better  prepared 
to  understand  the  breadth  and  length  and  height  and  depth 
of  its  scope.  Having  succeeded  in  his  long  and  earnest 
effort  to  preserve  in  unity  the  two  conflicting  elements  of 
the  Christian  church,  and  having  in  the  epistle  to  the  Colos- 
sians  met  the  new  and  final  doctrinal  emergency  with  a  full, 
explicit,  formal  statement  of  the  nature,  person,  and  relations 
of  Christ,  his  mind  is  free,  and  he  has  the  leisure  in  his  Ro- 
man imprisonment  to  expound  what  is  his  final  conception  of 
the  meaning  and  aim  of  the  Christian  revelation.     And  this 

62 


INTRODUCTION 


he  does  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  theme  and  worthy  of  the 
man  in  our  noble  epistle. 

If  the  Christians  of  this  day  have  no  mind  to  study,  no 
capacity  to  appreciate,  and  no  disposition  to  realize  in  life 
the  contents  of  this  transcendent  letter  of  the  noblest  and 
deepest  of  Christ's  interpreters,  those  of  some  future  day 
will  have;  and  Paul  and  the  Holy  Ghost  have  not  written 
it  in  vain.  Acts  15  :  28. 

IV.  Analysis  of  the  Epistle 

If  it  had  occurred  to  Paul  that,  some  two  thousand  years 
after  he  had  written  this  epistle,  men  would  be  engaged  in 
efforts  to  analyze  it,  he  might  have  made  it  more  formal; 
but  inevitably  he  would  have  made  it  less  vital,  as  our 
modern  preachers  do  in  their  formal  '^discourses."  But  as 
vitality  without  formality  is  better  than  formality  without 
vitality,  we  may  well  be  thankful  that  we  have  this  great 
epistle  as  it  is,  even  though  it  baffle  our  attempts  to  give  a 
formal  analysis  of  it. 

Its  main  outlines  may  be  indicated  in  a  general  way  as 
follows : 

I.   The  salutation,  i  :  i,  2. 

II.  An  outburst  of  lofty  praise  to  God  for  redemption 
and  its  blessings,  i  :  3-14.  See  further  analy- 
sis of  this  paragraph  on  pages  68,  69,  70  of 
commentary. 

III.  Thanksgiving  for  what  the  Gentile  Christians  were 

and  prayer  for  what  the  Apostle  wanted  them 
to  be,  I  :  15-23. 

IV.  The  supernatural  work  which  God  had  wrought  in 

them;  and  this  in  order  that  they  might  spend 
their  lives  in  work  for  him  —  and  all  through 
his  grace,  2  :  i-io. 
V.  The  reconciliation  and  reunification  of  the  two 
sundered  parts  of  humanity  —  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles—  through  the  cross  of  Christ,  2  :  11-22. 
63 


INTRODUCTION 


VI.   Paul's  unique  and  God- appointed  relation  to  and 

part  in  the  reuniting  of  disunited  humanity  in 

Christ,  3  :  1-13. 
VII.   Paul's  lofty  prayer  and  prophetic  doxology  for  them, 

3  '  14-21. 
VIII.   The  lofty  motives  he  urges  on  them  for  realizing  this 

unity,  and  the  means   God  has  provided  for 

realizing  it,  4  :  1-16. 
IX.   The  manner  of  life  they  are  to  live  in  correspondence 

with  the  lofty  origin,  plan,  and  motives  of  their 

salvation,  4  :  17-6  :  9. 

1.  Contrast  with  their  former  darkened  life  as  Gen- 

tiles, 4  :  17-19. 

2.  Necessity  of  experiencing  thorough  renewal  of 

their  inward  nature  and  thorough  transforma- 
tion of  the  outward  life,  4  :  20-24. 

3.  The  details,  positive  and  negative,  intermingled 

all  through,  first  the  one,  then  the  other,  4  :  25- 

4.  The  Christian  subordination  and  regulation  of 

three  domestic  relations  —  the  most  vital  and 
determinative  of  all  human  relations,  5  :  22- 
6:9. 
X.  Farewell  appeal  and  closing  word,  6  :  ic-24. 


V.  Bibliography 

Salmond,  S.  D.  F.  The  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  The  Expositor's 
Greek  Testament.  New  York.  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.  1903. 
This  work  is  practically  exhaustive  in  philological  analysis 
and  the  history  of  interpretation.  It  is  a  monument  to  the 
scholarship,  patience,  industry,  and  thoroughness  of  its 
author. 

Meyer.  Critical  and  Exegetical  Handbook  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians.  English  translation.  Funk  &  Wagnalls.  New 
York. 

Meyer  is  always  great,  but  later  scholars  have  improved  on  his 
work.  The  latest  editions  are  by  Schmidt  (1886)  and  Haupt 
(1897).     Haupt  shows  deep  insight. 

64 


INTRODUCTION 


Abbott,  T.  K.  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians.  New  York.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
1905. 

Abbott  is  good,  but  he  spends  too  much  time  and  space  on 
things  that  are  not  worth  while.  There  are  many  needles  in  his 
haystack,  if  one  can  take  time  to  find  them. 

Robinson,  J.  Armitage.  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians. 
London.     Macmillan  &  Co.     1907. 

This  volume  is  externally  uniform  with  Lightfoot's  volumes  on 
Galatians,  Philippians,  Colossians;  and  while  internally  it  is 
not  up  to  the  high  level  of  Lightfoot,  still  it  is  a  notably  good 
work.  It  is  fashioned  somewhat  after  the  method  of  Lightfoot 
and  is  very  helpful. 

FiNDLAY,   George  G.    The  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.     The  Ex- 
positor's Bible.     New  York.     A.  C.  Armstrong   &  Son.     1908. 
This  follows  the  method  of  the  Expositor's  Bible  and  is  exposi- 
tory rather  than  exegetical.     It  is  rich  in  spiritual  suggestion. 

Von  Soden.  Die  Briefe  an  die  Kolosser,  Epheser,  Philemon  in 
Hand-Commentar  zum  N.  T.,  von  H.  T.  Holtzman,  R.  A.  Lipsius, 
etc.     Freiburg  &  Leipzig,  1893. 

Klopper.     Der  Brief  an  die  Epheser.     Gottingen,  1891. 

Eadie.  Commentary  on  the  Greek  Text  of  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to 
the  Ephesians. 

Lightfoot.  Biblical  Essays,  pp.  375-396;  Notes  on  Epistles  of 
St.  Paul  from  Unpublished  Commentaries,  pp.  307-324,  contains 
notes  on  Eph.  i  :  1-14.  London,  1895.  Robinson  refers  to 
these  notes  in  his  work.  , 

Oltramare.  Commentaire  sur  les  Epttres  de  S.  Paul  aux  Colos- 
siens,  auxEphesiens  et  a  Philemon.     Paris,  1891. 

Beck.  Erklarung  des  Brief es  Pauli  an  die  Epheser.  Guterslob, 
1891. 

Barry.  Commentary  on  Ephesians  and  Colossians.  Ellicott's 
New  Testament  Commentary  for  English  Readers. 

MouLE.  The  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  Cambridge  Bible  for 
Schools. 

See  also  works  of  General  Introduction:  Zahn,  Jiilicher; 
Works  on  the  Apostolic  Age,  such  as  Weizsacker's  and 
McGiffert's;  special  monographs  such  as  H.  J.  Holtzmann*s 
Kritik  der  Epheser-  und  Kolosser-Briefe,  and  F.  J.  A.  Hort's 
Prolegomena  to  St.  Paul's  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  the 
Ephesians. 

See  also  the  works  on  Biblical  Theology,  as  Weiss,  Beyschlag, 
Stevens,  Gould. 

See  Articles  on  Ephesians  in  Hastings*  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible  and  in  Cyclopedia  Biblica. 


6s 


THE   EPISTLE  TO  THE 
EPHESIANS 

I.  The  Salutation,  i  :  i,  2 

1.       °Paul,  an  apostle  of  Christ  Jesus  through  the  will  of  1:1 

God,  °to  the  saints  which  are  °  ^  at  Ephesus,  °and  the 

*  Some  very  ancient  authorities  omit  at  Ephesus. 

I.  Paul,  an  apostle  of  Christ  Jesus,  through  the  will  of  God.  These 
opening  words  are  exactly  the  same  as  in  the  twin  epistle  to  the  Col. 
(i  :  i),  where  see  comment.  The  name  of  Timothy,  which  is  asso- 
ciated with  that  of  Paul  in  Colossians,  is  omitted  here.  As  this  is  a 
general  epistle,  a  final  comprehensive  statement  of  the  meaning  and 
aim  of  the  Christian  revelation  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  ideal  and 
the  absolute,  Paul  doubtless  wanted  it  to  have  as  little  as  possible  of 
the  personal  or  the  incidental.  To  the  saints.  The  epistle  was  not 
written  for  the  general  public,  for  just  anybody  and  everybody,  but 
for  a  certain  class  of  people,  a  small  select  circle,  the  members  of  which 
had  a  common  secret,  a  common  experience;  who  had  been  en- 
lightened with  a  new  light,  initiated  into  a  new  life  and  order;  who 
had  been  called  out,  set  apart;  citizens  of  a  commonwealth  not  of 
this  world,  but  of  heaven.  At  Ephesus.  These  words  were  not 
written  by  St.  Paul  and  were  not  in  the  original  copy.  They  were 
afterwards  introduced  into  this  place  by  a  process  which  is  described 
in  the  Introduction.  See  also  comment  on  Col.  4  :  16.  This  letter 
was  for  the  Gentile  Christians  of  a  certain  region.  And  the  faithful 
in  Christ  Jesus.  Leaving  out  the  words  at  Ephesus,  these  words  are 
to  be  taken  in  close  connection  with  the  word  saints,  and  they  give  a 
more  specific  description,  a  closer  identification,  of  those  called 
saints.  For  the  word  saints  means  those  set  apart  for  God,  and 
might  be  applied  to  the  Jews.  Compare  2  :  19.  So  he  says,  "To  the 
saints,  those  who  are  also  faithful  in  (or  believers  in,  Acts  16  :  i; 
2  Cor.  6  :  15)  Christ  Jesus." 

67 


EPHESIANS 


2.  faithful  in  Christ  Jesus:  °Grace  to  you  and  peace  from 
God  our  Father  °and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

II.  An    Outburst    of    Lofty    Praise    to    God    for 
Redemption  and  its  Blessings,  1:3-14. 

3.  ^Blessed  he  °the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 

2.  Grace  to  you  and  peace.  Same  as  in  Col.  i  :  2,  where  see  defi- 
nition of  these  words.  And  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  is 
here  joined  with  God  as  the  source  of  grace  and  peace.  Such  distinc- 
tion is  never  bestowed  upon  angels  or  any  other  being  except  Christ. 
This  is  perfectly  natural  to  one  to  whom  Christ  was  what  he  is  shown 
to  be  in  the  epistle  to  the  Colossians,  written  immediately  before  this 
one.  God  is  the  Father  of  Christian  believers,  having  made  them 
his  children  by  giving  them  through  his  Spirit  the  nature  and  the 
feeling  of  children  (Rom.  8  :  15,  16).  Christ  is  Lord,  having  become 
the  Head  of  the  church  (i  :  22;  Col.  i  :  18)  and  having  won  the  right 
to  their  submission  and  obedience. 

This  outburst  of  praise  extends  through  twelve  verses  in  a  single 
intricately  yet  skilfully  constructed  sentence  of  fathomless  import. 
At  first  we  fail  to  find  a  trace  of  order  or  method.  "  It  is  like  the  pre- 
liminary flight  of  the  eagle,  rising  and  wheeling  round,  as  though  for 
a  while  uncertain  what  direction  in  his  boundless  freedom  he  shall 
take.  The  Apostle  seems  to  be  swept  along  by  his  theme,  hardly 
knowing  whither  it  is  bearing  him.  He  cannot  order  his  conceptions 
or  close  his  sentences.  And  so  this  swelling  doxology  runs  on  and  on; 
in  Christ  ...  in  whom  ...  in  Him  ...  in  Him  ...  in  whom 
...  in  whom  ...  in  whom.  .  .  .  The  will  of  God,  the  will  of  God, 
working  itself  out  to  some  glorious  issue  in  Christ  —  this  is  his  theme." 

After  the  prelude  of  praise  in  verse  3,  Paul  sets  forth  the  glorious 
salvation  in  Christ: 

(i)  As  already  predestined  by  God  in  his  love,  in  eternity,  verses 

4»  5- 

(2)  As  brought  about  by  the  death  of  Christ  and  realized  in  the 
conscious  experience  of  believers,  6,  7. 

(3)  Made  known  to  them  as  being  in  fulfilment  of  the  divine  pur- 
pose to  reunite  the  universe  in  Christ,  8-10. 

(4)  As  realized  according  to  the  predestination  of  God,  through 
their  faith  and  the  sealing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  both  by  Christians  in 
general  and  the  readers  in  particular,  11-13. 

(5)  As  issuing  in  final  redemption,  14. 

"  Standing  midway  between  the  eternity  past  and  to  come,  the  Apos- 
tle looks  backward  to  the  primary  source  of  man's  salvation  when  it  lay 

68 


EPHESIANS 


Christ,    who    hath    blessed    us    °with    every   spiritual 
4.   blessing  °in  the  heavenly  places  °in  Christ:    °even  as 

a  silent  thought  in  the  mind  of  God,  and  forward  to  the  time  when  it 
shall  have  fulfilled  its  promise  and  become  an  eternal  consummation. 
In  this  grand  evolution  of  the  divine  plan  three  stages  are  marked  by 
a  refrain,  thrice  repeated,  To  the  praise  of  his  glory,  to  the  praise  of 
the  glory  of  his  grace  (6,  12,  14).  St.  Paul's  anthem  is  thus  divided 
into  three  strophes:  He  sings  the  glory  of  redeeming  love  in  its  past 
conception,  its  present  bestowments,  and  its  future  fruition.  The 
paragraph,  forming  but  one  sentence  and  spun  upon  a  single  golden 
thread,  is  a  piece  of  thought-music  —  a  sort  oi  fugue  in  which  from 
eternity  to  eternity  the  counsel  of  love  is  pursued  by  St.  Paul's  bold 
and  exulting  thought.  The  middle  thought,  that  of  God's  actual 
bounty  to  believers,  fills  a  space  equal  to  that  of  the  other  two.  But 
there  is  a  pause  witlTin  it  (at  verse  10),  which  in  effect  resumes  the 
idea  of  the  first  strophe  and  works  it  in  as  a  motif  to  the  second,  carry- 
ing on  both  in  full  volume  till  they  lose  themselves  in  the  third  and 
culminating  movement.  Throughout  the  piece  there  runs  in  varying 
expression  the  phrase  'in  Christ,'  'in  the  Beloved,'  'in  Him,'  'in 
whom,'  weaving  the  whole  into  subtle  continuity.  The  theme  of 
the  entire  composition  is  given  in  verse  3,  which  forms  no  part  of  the 
threefold  division  we  have  described,  but  stands  as  a  prelude  to  it  as 
follows: 

'Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  who 
hath  blessed  us:  In  every  blessing  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  heavenly 
places,  in  Christ'  "  (Findlay  on  Ephesians  in  the  Expositor's  Bible), 

This  verse  is  a  sort  of  prelude  to  the  lofty  strain  that  follows  through 
verse  14,  a  comprehensive  summary,  containing  implicitly  all  that  is 
unfolded  in  order  in  the  verses  following. 

3.  Blessed  be  the  God  .  .  .  who  hath  blessed  us.  Paul  pro- 
nounces his  blessing  on  God  because  God  has  bestowed  his  blessings 
on  us.  The  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  same 
designation  is  used  by  Paul  in  Rom.  15  :  6;  2  Cor.  1:3;  11:31.  See 
also  Jn.  20  :  17.  For  meaning  see  comment  on  verse  17  of  this 
chapter.  With  every  spiritual  blessing.  The  word  spiritual  defines 
the  kind  and  nature  of  the  blessings  bestowed  by  God  on  those  who 
believe  in  Christ.  They  are  spiritual  as  opposed  to  natural,  material, 
or  temporal.  They  belong  to  the  invisible  realm  of  the  spirit  rather 
than  the  visible  realm  of  nature  and  sense.  The  word  every  measures 
the  scope  of  the  blessings  and  includes,  objectively,  every  gift  or 
bestowment  from  the  grace  that  first  "conceived  the  plan"  to  final 
glorification;  and  subjectively,  in  experience,  everything  from  pre- 
venient  grace  to  complete  sanctification.  In  the  heavenly  places. 
There  is  no  word  in  the  original  for  places.   The  Greek  delighted  in  a 

69 


EPHESIANS 


he  chose  us  °in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
"^that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish  before 

certain  suggestive  indefiniteness,  while  we  practical  moderns  are 
intolerant  of  anything  that  does  not  define  to  the  utmost  details. 
This  phrase  of  Paul,  thus  defined,  probably  means  blessings  that 
belong  to  the  realm  of  the  heavenly  as  opposed  to  the  earthly.  There 
is  an  example  of  the  contrast  fully  stated  in  Phil.  3  :  19,  20.  In 
Christ.  These  blessings  have  their  ground  in  Christ;  that  is,  apart 
from  him  there  would  be  no  such  blessings  for  us.  They  include 
the  favorite  Pauline  conception  of  union  with  Christ :  these  blessings 
have  no  ground  apart  from  Christ  and  can  be  realized,  experienced, 
only  on  condition  of  union  with  Christ:  the  blessings,  then,  that 
God  has  blessed  believers  with  are  spiritual  as  opposed  to  material  or 
temporal,  they  belong  to  the  realm  of  the  heavenly  and  not  of  this 
world,  and  they  are  objectively  grounded  in  Christ  and  can  be  sub- 
jectively experienced  only  on  condition  of  union  with  Christ. 

In  verses  4,  5,  6a,  Paul  declares  what  God  did  for  believers  in  eternity 
past,  before  the  creation  of  man  or  the  foundation  of  the  world.  In 
verses  6b-i2  he  enumerates  the  actual  bestowments  of  the  grace  of 
God  in  the  experience  of  believers  in  time.  In  verses  13  and  14  he 
turns  his  thought  to  the  hope  of  the  future  and  the  God-sealed  cer- 
tainty of  final  fruition. 

4.  Even  as  he  chose  us.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  Paul  is  writing 
in  a  sort  of  confidential  intimacy  to  those  who  had  responded  to  the 
call  of  God,  who  had  "come  out  from  among  them  and  were  separate," 
who  were  thus  God's  set  apart  ones,  who  had  been  enlightened,  who 
had  had  a  common  but  revolutionary  and  transforming  experience, 
who  had  been  initiated  into  the  new  order  of  those  that  knew  the  secret 
of  God.  So  he  is  talking  secrets,  the  sacredest  secrets,  secrets  that 
the  world  did  not  know  and  could  not  know  because  they  were  ap- 
prehended through  a  spiritual  sense,  as  Paul  says  in  i  Cor.  2  :  14-16. 
He  is  writing  secret  things  to  those  who  could  understand,  just  as 
Jesus  spoke  secrets  to  the  inner  circle  of  the  Eleven  in  the  Upper 
Room,  as  he  could  not  have  spoken  to  the  promiscuous  crowd  without. 
Without  keeping  this  in  mind,  it  is  impossible  to  enter  into  the  spirit 
and  meaning  of  this  transcendent  passage  or  indeed  of  the  epistle 
as  a  whole. 

The  words,  as  he  chose  us,  are  to  be  taken  in  connection  with  and 
dependence  upon  those  going  before,  thus :  He  blessed  us  with  every 
spiritual  blessing  in  accordance  with  and  pursuance  of  the  previous 
fact,  that  he  chose  us  in  eternity.  He  chose  us,  and  then  in  accord- 
ance with  that  choice  he  blessed  us  with  all  spiritual  blessing.  And 
he  chose  us  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish  before  him. 
This  was  the  purpose  for  which  he  chose  us.     In  him.    That  is,  he 

70 


EPHESIANS 


^  him  °in  love :  ^having  foreordained  us  °unto  adoption 
as  sons  °through  Jesus  Christ  unto  himself,  ^according 

'  Or,  him:  having  in  love  foreordained  us 


chose  us  as  being  in  Christ,  he  chose  those  who  would  come  into 
union  with  Christ  by  faith.  It  is  God  that  maketh  righteous,  not 
only  in  the  sense  of  justification  but  also  in  the  sense  of  sanctification. 
But  he  does  this  only  on  condition  of  union  with  Christ  by  faith.  So 
it  is  a  perfectly  proper  way  of  putting  it  to  say  that  he  selected  those 
who,  he  foreknew,  would  thus  come  into  identification  with  Christ  by 
faith,  with  the  purpose  of  their  being  holy  and  without  blemish  before 
him.  In  other  words,  he  selected  these  as  the  ones  he  would  make 
holy  and  blameless.  That  is  to  say,  God  was  going  to  make  some- 
body holy  and  blameless,  a  thing  none  but  God  could  do.  Who 
should  it  be?  Whom  should  he  select?  What  would  be  the  ground 
of  his  choice?  As  everywhere  appears  in  Paul's  writings,  it  was  to  be 
those  who  realized  their  guilt,  their  sinfulness,  and  their  utter  inability 
to  help  themselves,  or  to  make  themselves  holy;  in  other  words,  those 
who  would  accept  salvation  and  righteousness  as  a  gift  of  grace  from 
God  on  a  condition  prescribed  by  God.  The  condition  prescribed  by 
God  was  that  men  should  trustfully  commit  themselves  to  Christ  for 
forgiveness  of  sins  and  for  deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin  and  evil. 
This  is  the  gist  of  what  Paul  says  in  Rom.  chaps.  9-1 1,  where  he  is 
treating  this  very  same  subject  of  election.  See  especially  Rom.  9  :  6, 
11;  10  :  3,  4;  11:5.  And  this  is  everywhere  the  consistent  teaching 
of  Paul.  So  that  it  is  a  qualitative  election  rather  than  a  personal 
election.  But  of  course  any  who  answer  the  description  and  who  are 
of  the  described  quality  are  included  and  of  them  it  may  be  said  that 
they  were  elected,  as  here  Paul  says  of  his  readers  and  himself,  even 
as  he  chose  us;  but  even  so,  he  adds  in  him  to  indicate  the  reason  why 
he  could  say  that  they  were  elected.^  In  love.  These  words  are  to 
be  taken  with  those  that  follow,  thus :  having  in  love  foreordained 
us,  thus  making  it  God's  love  and  not  ours.  This  is  much  more  in 
accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  whole  passage,  which  is  concerned  with 
what  God  has  done  for  us  and  is  to  us  rather  than  what  we  are  or  have 
done.  The  word  translated  good  pleasure  in  verse  5  does  not  denote 
benevolence  or  love,  but  simply  the  free  self-determination  of  God's  will. 

*  As  to  the  absoluteness  of  election  it  is  worth  while  to  note  that  Paul  in  Rom.  8  :  29 
makes  God's  foreknowledge  antecedent  to  foreordination.  And  in  i  Pt.  i  :  2  (an 
epistle  which  has  many  affinities  and  coincidences  both  with  Romans  and  Ephesians) 
"the  election  has  its  ground  and  norm  in  the  foreknowledge  of  the  Father,"  as  Dr. 
Salmond  says.  He  savs  again,  "  It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that  in  both  Romans  (8  :  29) 
and  in  i  Peter  (i  :  2)  it  is  the  foreknowledge  and  not  the  foreordination  that  is  repre- 
sented as  antecedent  to  the  election  or  as  forming  its  ground."  See  Salmond  on 
Ephesians  in  Expositor's  Greek  Testament,  vol.  iii,  pp.  249-251. 

71 


EPHESIANS 


6.   to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  °to  the  praise  of  the 
glory  of  his  grace,   °  ^  which  he  freely  bestowed  on  us 

^  Or,  wherewith  he  endued  us 

5.  Having  foreordained  us.  This  is  practically  equivalent  to:  "  And 
he  foreordained  us  unto  adoption  as  sons."  Strictly  construed,  it  is  this : 
he  chose  us  in  him,  at  the  same  time  foreordaining  us  unto  adoption 
as  sons.  It  states  the  significance  of  God's  act  toward  us  from 
another  point  of  view.  For  those  who  are  holy  are  God's  sons  and 
those  who  are  God's  sons  are  holy.  Hohness  is  sonship.  Others 
take  having  foreordained  as  temporally  antecedent  to  he  chose  us, 
thus:  Having  foreordained  us  unto  adoption  as  sons,  he  chose  us  that 
we  should  be  holy,  etc.  ''God  elected  us  in  Christ  to  be  perfect  saints, 
for  he  predestined  us  through  Christ  to  be  his  sons"  (Findlay). 
This  is  grammatically  correct,  but  if  foreordination  to  sonship  is  the 
primary  thing  and  election  the  subsequent  and  subordinate  thing, 
why  should  Paul  have  put  election  in  the  chief  place  in  his  sentence 
and  foreordination  in  the  subordinate  construction  and  place? 
However,  what's  the  difference?  Unto  adoption  as  sons.  This  is  a 
favorite  conception  of  Paul.  It  bulks  large  in  his  view  of  the  state  of 
those  who  are  saved,  Rom.  8  :  15;  Gal.  4  :  5,  6.  He  does  not  speak 
of  the  new  birth  or  of  being  born  again,  which  is  John's  favorite  figure, 
but  of  a  new  creation  and  a  new  creature;  his  view  of  sonship  is  that 
it  is  subsequent  to  re-creation  and  one  of  adoption.  Through  Jesus 
Christ.  Our  predestined  relation  to  God  as  sons  was  to  be  realized 
through  the  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ  and  not  otherwise.  So  that 
election  is  in  him  and  adoption  is  through  him.  According  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  his  will.  The  word  translated  good  pleasure  does  not 
here  mean  benevolence;  that  was  expressed  by  a  much  stronger 
word  in  verse  4,  namely,  in  love.  It  is  here  the  free  self-determination 
of  his  will,  his  own  absolute  sovereign  good  pleasure  and  counsel,  un- 
moved by  any  cause  or  consideration  outside  of  himself.  It  occurs 
with  the  same  meaning  in  Christ's  words  in  Matt.  11  :  26:  "Even  so, 
Father,  for  such  was  thy  good  pleasure,"  that  is,it  was  thy  good  pleasure 
to  reveal  the  truth  to  babes  and  to  conceal  it  from  "philosophers." 
These  words  refer  to  all  that  he  has  said  in  verses  3,  4,  and  5.  God 
blessed,  God  chose,  God  foreordained,  in  accordance  with  the  deter- 
mination of  his  own  will.  And  what  do  these  words  express?  Merely 
the  absolute  independence  and  sovereignty  of  God  in  these  acts  of  his. 
There  is  a  faint  suggestion  here  of  what  Paul  says  about  the  sover- 
eignty of  God  in  Rom.  9  :  14-21.  What  is  the  object  of  Paul  in  writ- 
ing these  strong  words  about  the  absolute  and  independent  sover- 
eignty of  God  and  his  acts  of  election  and  predestination  of  his  people 
in  the  depths  of  eternity  before  the  universe  was?     It  was  to  show 

72 


EPHESIANS  1:7 


7.   °in  the  Beloved:  °in  whom  °we  have  our  redemption 
^through  his  blood,  °the  forgiveness  of  our  trespasses, 

that  the  thought  of  man  and  man's  salvation  by  grace  was  absolutely 
primary  in  the  mind  of  God,  anterior  and  superior  to  the  universe 
itself.  Paul  has  already  said  in  Colossians  that  the  universe  itself 
was  grounded  in  Christ  with  a  view  to  the  new  universe  that  was  to 
be  reconstructed  and  reconditioned  in  Christ.  Indeed,  this  daring 
and  startling  thought  is  boldly  broached  in  this  epistle  and  in  this 
very  paragraph  of  it,  see  verse  10.  The  design  of  Paul  was  to  dignify 
and  glorify  the  grace  of  God  which  created  the  universe  for  and 
grounded  it  upon  the  purpose  of  man's  redemption  and  salvation 
through  Christ.  Before  Paul  became  a  Christian  the  same  thought 
substantially  was  expressed  by  Christ  himself,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of 
my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world"  (Mt.  25  :  34),  Incidentally,  and  subordinately,  these 
thrilling  revelations  of  God's  precreational  plan  of  man's  salvation 
and  his  precreational  acts  of  election  and  adoption  would  give  to 
his  readers  an  inspiring,  uplifting  sense  of  their  worth  and  dignity 
and  of  their  security  and  welfare  for  the  eternal  future. 

6.  To  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace.  See  above  on  verse  5. 
As  there  said,  the  supreme  end  to  which  all  that  God  wills,  provides, 
and  does  in  Christ  for  the  redemption  of  men  is  the  manifestation 
and  recognition  of  the  glory,  the  splendor,  of  his  grace  —  that  men  and 
any  and  all  intelligent  beings  in  the  universe  may  come  to  know  the 
real  nature  and  character  of  God,  and  how  glorious  his  grace  is. 
"  The  glorifying  of  the  divine  love  (which,  as  it  refers  to  sinful  beings, 
is  here  called  grace)  is  the  divinely  conceived  ultimate  aim"  of  the 
plan  of  redemption.  Which  he  freely  bestowed  on  us.  The  words  in 
the  original  have  a  force  and  beauty  which  cannot  be  reproduced  in 
English.  It  is  something  like  this:  his  favor  with  which  he  graciously 
favored  us.  Does  the  verb  bestowed  refer  to  God's  gracious  provision 
of  redemption  for  men,  or  to  his  making  his  grace  effective  in  the 
actual  inward  experience  of  believers?  When  and  in  what  sense 
does  Paul  mean  that  God  bestowed  his  grace  on  them?  It  seems  in 
their  actual  experience.  For  he  has  already  brought  out  the  other 
thought,  substantially,  in  what  precedes;  and  in  what  immediately 
follows  he  does  describe  their  actual  experience  of  forgiveness,  par- 
don. In  the  Beloved.  By  virtue  of  our  union  with  him  who  is  the 
Beloved.  This  describes  Jesus  absolutely  as  the  Beloved  One  of 
God.  In  Col.  I  :  13  he  is  called  "the  son  of  his  love."  Cf.Mt.  3  :  17; 
17:5.  This  may  be  a  messianic  title.  See  detached  note  in  Robin- 
son on  Ephesians. 

7.  In  whom.  Here  it  is  again,  in  Christ.  Everything  is  in  Christ. 
We  have  our  redemption.    The  word  in  Paul's  epistles  "  denotes  the 

n 


EPHESIANS 


8.  ^according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace,  °^  which  he  made 

9.  to  abound  toward  us  in  all  wisdom  and  prudence,  °hav- 
ing   made   known  unto   us  the  mystery   of   his  will, 

^  Or,  wherewith  he  abounded 

deliverance  accomplished,  at  the  cost  of  Christ's  death,  from  the 
penalty  of  sin."  Through  his  blood.  A  more  specific  definition  of 
the  meaning  in  this  connection  of  in  whom.  The  forgiveness  of  our 
trespasses.  This  is  in  apposition  with  our  redemption,  defining  what 
that  consists  in  as  realized  in  our  experience  and  reported  in  our 
consciousness.  According  to  the  riches  of  his  grace.  What  God 
provided  and  did  for  us  in  eternity  before  the  creation  of  the  universe 
is  referred  to  as  showing  the  glory  of  his  grace,  what  he  does  in  us 
in  the  conscious  forgiveness  of  sins  as  showing  the  riches  of  his  grace. 
And  "as  grace  served  to  wind  up  one  section  of  this  great  passage 
concerning  what  God  provided  for  us  from  eternity,  and  to  begin 
another  in  verse  6,  so  it  serves  here  to  connect  and  continue  what 
God  has  done  in  us  as  a  matter  of  experience,  namely,  what  God  has 
done  in  us  in  the  consciousness  of  forgiveness  and  the  inner  enlighten- 
ment in  the  form  of  wisdom  and  prudence."  How  rich  is  his  grace ! 
Compare  the  hymn  of  John  Newton : 

"Amazing  grace!     How  sweet  the  sound  I 
That  saved  a  wretch  like  me." 

8.  Which  he  made  to  abound  toward  us  in  all  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence. Here  Paul  takes  up  the  revelatory  aspect  of  grace,  and  he  is 
so  inspired  and  fired  that  he  goes  on  using  words  of  great  import. 
With  St.  Paul  the  word  "wisdom"  belongs  specially  to  the  region  of 
the  secret  (or  mystery)  of  God  and  its  revelation,  while  prudence  is 
that  practical  understanding  which  relates  to  the  practical  afi^airs  of 
life.  In  the  letters  of  this  period  and  group  Paul  lays  great  stress  on 
wisdom,  though  in  writing  to  the  Corinthians  at  an  earlier  period  he 
rebuked  their  devotion  to  what  they  called  wisdom,  by  which  he 
meant  an  intellectual  subtlety  akin  to  the  spirit  of  Greek  philosophy. 
He  refused  to  gratify  their  desire  for  this  sort  of  thing  and  would  not 
impart  to  them  in  their  carnal  state  of  ambition  and  strife  his  own 
wisdom  in  the  deeper  things  of  God.  However,  he  declared  to  them 
most  positively  that  he  had  a  wisdom,  though  one  that  belonged  to 
mature  men  and  not  to  babes  (i  Cor.  2  :  1-7).  And  this  is  the  wis- 
dom (or  philosophy  of  the  universe,  if  you  please  to  call  it  so)  which 
we  have  in  this  transcendent  epistle  and  in  its  twin  epistle,  that  to  the 
Colossians.     Compare  Robinson  on  Ephesians,  in  loc. 

9.  Having  made  known  unto  us  the  mystery  of  his  will  =>  in  that  he 
made  known  to  us  the  hitherto  unre  vealed  secret  of  his  will,  his  hitherto 

74 


EPHESIANS 


^according  to  his  good  pleasure  °which  he  purposed  in 

lo.   him  °unto  a  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  the  ^  times, 

°to  sum  up  all  things  in  Christ,  °the  things  ^in  the 

»  Gr.  seasons.  '  Gr.  upon. 


unrevealed  will  and  purpose.  Verses  9  and  10  are  explanatory  of  the 
statement  of  verse  8.  According  to  his  good  pleasure  =  in  pursuance 
of  his  free  self-determination  (cf.  verse  5).  Which  he  purposed  in 
him.  This  relative  clause  is  inserted  to  serve  as  a  means  of  attaching 
the  following  words,  namely: 

10.  Unto  a  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  the  times.  "  With  a  view 
to  a  dispensation  belonging  to  the  fulness  of  the  times."  That  is,  the 
purpose  and  plan  of  God  looked  to  a  dispensation  or  arrangement  or 
order  which  was  to  be  ushered  in  by  him  when  the  times  were  ripe 
for  it.  Compare  Gal.  4:3,4,  "  But  when  the  fulness  of  the  time  came, 
God  sent  forth  his  son,"  etc.  A  preparatory  period  and  process  were 
necessary  until  the  time  should  come  when  all  things  should  be  ripe 
and  ready  for  the  revelation  of  his  secret,  i.e.,  hitherto  unrevealed, 
plan,  namely,  the  dispensation  or  economy  of  the  divine  saving  grace, 
which  was  to  be  put  into  execution  by  Christ  —  in  other  words,  the  gos- 
pel plan  of  salvation.  Somehow  there  is  a  sort  of  suggestion  here 
that  the  fulness  of  the  times  included  the  production  of  a  man  with 
a  full  capacity,  spiritual,  intellectual,  temperamental,  to  grasp  the 
full  scope  and  meaning  of  the  new  revolutionary  revelation  and  dis- 
pensation, and  the  qualities  of  courage  and  endurance  which  would 
enable  him  to  establish  it  in  the  earth  before  his  death.  Did  God 
have  to  wait  for  Paul  ?  At  any  rate  there  has  never  been  but  one  Paul; 
and  what  would  Christianity  have  been  without  this  one?  To  sum  up 
all  things  in  Christ.  A  great  and  unexplorable  saying!  Perhaps  as 
good  a  paraphrase  as  has  been  made  of  it  is  the  following:  To  bring 
together  again  for  himself  all  things  and  beings  hitherto  disunited  by 
sin  into  one  combined  state  of  fellowship  and  unity  in  him  who  is  the 
universal  bond,  Christ.  This  is  the  consummation  that  swims  into 
view  in  this  great  epistle,  which  is  the  crowning  revelation  of  the  New 
Testament.  It  contemplates  nothing  less  than  the  rehabilitation  of  the 
universe  in  Jesus  Christ  and  the  reconstitution  of  the  universe  on  a 
Christian  basis.  This  process  of  cosmic  reunification  has  already  had 
its  beginning  in  the  unification  of  the  two  separated  and  irreconcilable 
portions  of  mankind,  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles,  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  Paul 
sets  forth  in  this  epistle :  "  That  he  might  reconcile  them  both  in  one 
body  unto  God"  (2  :  16);  "For  through  him  (Christ)  we  both  have 
our  access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father"  (2  :  18).  And  this  idea  and 
ideal  of  unity  is  more  fully  set  forth  in  the  great  classic  on  Christian 

75 


II  EPHESIANS 


11.  heavens,  and  the  things  upon  the  earth;  °in  him,  /  say, 
°in  whom  also  we  were  made  a  heritage,  ^having  been 
foreordained  ^according  to  the  purpose  °of  him  who 

12.  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  will;  °to  the 
end  that  we  should  be  unto  the  praise  of  his  glory,  °we 


unity  in  chap.  4  :  3-16,  which  is  too  long  to  be  quoted  in  full  here, 
but  which  ought  to  be  read  in  connection  with  this  great  saying  of 
Paul.  The  things  in  the  heavens,  and  the  things  upon  the  earth. 
That  is,  the  sum  total  of  created  objects,  whether  things  or  beings, 
wherever  found.  See  Col.  i  :  20  and  the  note  thereon,  and  compare 
the  suggestive  sayings  of  Acts  3  :  21,  and  especially  Rom.  8  :  20-22. 

11.  In  him,  I  say.  A  repetition  both  for  emphasis  and  to  serve  as 
a  means  of  transition  to,  and  connection  with,  what  follows.  In 
whom  also  we  were  made  a  heritage.  In  whom,  as  the  causal  ground, 
we  have  also,  or  actually,  been  made  partakers  of  the  inheritance; 
for  he  is  telling  what  God  has  done  for  us  rather  than  what  we  have 
been  made  to  God.  And  the  Greek  word  has  this  meaning,  as  well 
as  the  one  given  in  the  text.  Having  been  foreordained.  That  is,  to 
this  participation  in  the  inheritance.  According  to  the  purpose. 
Our  foreordination  was  in  accordance  with  and  in  pursuance  of  the 
purpose  of  God  and  not  an  accidental  thing,  or  due  to  or  dependent  on 
ourselves.  Of  him  who  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his 
will.  This  seems  to  be  added  to  express  the  absolute  sovereignty, 
and  so  the  absolute  efficiency  and  sufficiency,  of  God,  on  whom  our 
salvation  depends  and  in  whose  hands  it  is. 

1 2.  To  the  end  that  we  should  be  unto  the  praise  of  his  glory.  These 
words  are  to  be  taken  in  connection  with  the  words  having  been  fore- 
ordained in  verse  11.  The  similar  phrase  in  verse  5  is  so  construed 
there.  They  express  the  ultimate  end  which  God  had  in  view  in 
foreordaining  us  to  be  made  partakers  of  the  inheritance.  We  who 
had  before  hoped  in  Christ.  These  words  are  taken  by  some  of  the 
best  commentators  to  refer  to  the  Jews.  They  do  no  such  thing. 
There  is  no  conceivable  reason  for  drawing  here  the  distinction  be- 
tween Jews  and  Gentiles  or  for  speaking  here  of  the  Jews  as  distin- 
guished from  the  Gentiles.  Besides,  if  Paul  had  intended  to  refer  to 
the  Jews  here  in  a  distinctive  way,  he  certainly  could  have  made  it 
plain,  as  he  does  in  chap.  2  :  11-22.  This  is  certainly  a  very  vague 
and  hazy  way  of  indicating  the  Jews.  The  language,  in  agreement 
with  the  whole  context,  refers  to  Christians  in  general.  The  "we," 
as  in  the  preceding  verse,  simply  means  all  Christian  believers;  and 
the  whole  sentence  is  to  be  thus  interpreted:  To  the  end  that  we 
should  be  to  the  praise  of  his  glory,  we,  who  before  the  full  manifesta- 

76 


EPHESIANS 


13.  who  ^had  before  hoped  in  Christ:  °in  whom  ye  also, 
^having  heard  the  word  of  the  truth,  the  gospel  of  your 
salvation,  —  in  whom,  having  also  believed,  °ye  were 

14.  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  °of  promise,  °which  is  an 
earnest  of  our  inheritance,  °unto  the  redemption  of 
Gocfs  own  possession,  unto  the  praise  of  his  glory. 

I  Or,  have 


tion  of  that  glory  (at  the  parousia)  have  reposed  our  hope  in  Christ. 
(The  reading  have  in  the  margin  probably  has  this  meaning.)  And 
this  interpretation  is  in  accordance  with  the  fact  that  the  word  hope 
is  generally  used  by  Paul  as  referring  to  the  final  consummation  of 
our  salvation  and  final  glorification. 

13.  In  whom  ye  also.  This  is,  by  those  commentators  mentioned 
above,  supposed  to  mean:  Ye  Gentile  believers  as  well  as  the  Jews. 
Not  so.  It  simply  means,  You,  to  whom  I  am  writing,  as  well  as 
all  other  Christian  believers.  Exactly  the  same  thing  occurs  in  Eph. 
2  :  22,  and  in  Rom.  i  :  6;  and  practically  the  same  thing  in  Col.  i  :  21 
and  2  :  13.  The  words  declare  of  the  readers  in  particular  what  was 
true  of  Christians  in  general,  and  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  distinguish- 
ing them  as  Gentiles  from  Jews.  Having  heard  the  word  of  the  truth. 
The  construction  of  this  sentence  is  broken.  Probably  Paul  had  it  in 
mind  to  say,  "In  whom  ye  also  having  heard  the  word  of  the  truth, 
believed  and  were  sealed,"  etc.  But  instead  of  this,  he  repeats  the 
relative  with  a  second  participle,  namely,  having  also  believed,  etc., 
Ye  were  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  That  is,  by  the  impartation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  which  was  to  them  and  in  them  a  matter  of  experience, 
as  in  Rom.  5  :  5.  The  sealing  was  the  assurance  of  salvation  attested 
to  their  own  consciousness  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  in  Rom.  8  :  16. 
The  Spirit  himself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  children 
of  God.  Of  promise.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  the  object  of  the  promise 
of  God. 

14.  Which  is  an  earnest  of  our  inheritance.  This  statement  is  of  the 
nature  of  a  parenthesis,  coming  between  a  verb  (ye  were  sealed)  and 
the  temporal  prepositional  adjunct  which  modifies  it  (unto  or  until  the 
consummation  of  redemption).  In  receiving  the  Spirit  (as  they  had 
done,  else  all  this  would  have  absolutely  no  meaning  for  them)  they 
had  a  guarantee,  as  earnest  money  is  a  guarantee  of  future  payment, 
that  they  should  become  actual  possessors  of  the  final  inheritance,  of 
future  salvation.  Unto  the  redemption.  These  words  are  to  be  con- 
strued with  ye  were  sealed,  and  they  are  temporal,  as  is  shown  by  the 
words  in  4  :  30,  "  In  whom  (the  Holy  Spirit)  ye  were  sealed  unto  the 

77 


EPHESIANS 


III.  Thanksgiving  for  what  they  Were  and  Prayer 

FOR  WHAT  HE  WANTED   THEM  TO   Be,    I  :  1 5-23 

15.       °For  this  cause  °I  also,  °having  heard  of  °the  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  which  is  ^  among  you,  °and  ^  which  ye 

»  Or,  in  »  Many  ancient  authorities  insert  the  love. 

day  of  redemption.'*  These  words  then  will  influence  the  interpretation 
of  the  meaning  of  sealing.  God's  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  is  a 
proof  that  they  are  his,  it  is  his  assurance  to  them  of  the  reality  of  the 
process  that  has  made  them  his,  it  is  his  proprietary  stamp;  and  it  is 
thus  implicitly  a  guarantee  that  he  will  keep  them  unto  the  day  of 
final  redemption.  By  the  impartation  of  his  Spirit,  accomplishing 
their  inward  moral  and  spiritual  transformation  and  giving  them 
the  consciousness  of  sonship,  their  final  salvation  is  pledged  and  as- 
sured so  far  as  God  is  concerned.  As  has  been  quaintly  said,  "By 
putting  heaven  in  us  he  guarantees  that  he  will  some  day  put  us  in 
heaven."  There  is  a  striking  parallel  to  this  and  commentary  on 
this  in  Phil.  1:6:  "  He  which  began  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it 
until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."  But  this  does  not  exclude  the  possibility 
of  a  believer's  separating  himself  from  God  and  losing  salvation. 
Compare  i  Cor.  9:27.  Unto  the  redemption  of  God's  own  possession. 
The  word  God's  is  not  in  the  original.  The  original  is  simply,  unto  the 
redemption  of  the  possession,  and  this,  according  to  the  run  of  the  con- 
text, probably  means  sealed  unto  redemption,  which  will  give  actual 
possession  (Abbott). 

15.  "  Only  after  he  has  freed  his  heart  by  the  preceding  outburst 
does  he  reach  what  in  other  epistles  he  begins  with,"  namely,  thanks- 
giving on  behalf  of  his  readers.  For  this  cause.  Refers  to  verses  13 
and  14,  because  you  also  are  included  among  the  saints,  because 
you  have  heard  and  believed  the  gospel  and  have  received  the  seal 
of  God  in  the  experiences  he  has  wrought  in  you.  I  also.  I  want 
you  to  know  and  to  feel  that,  as  you  give  thanks  and  pray  for  your- 
selves and  for  each  other,  I,  Paul,  also  do  the  same.  Having  heard 
of  the  faith.  This  suggests,  though  it  does  not  prove,  that  Paul  had 
never  seen  them;  for  he  could  receive  news  of  their  continuing  or 
growing  in  faith,  as  in  the  case  of  Philemon,  whom  he  did  know, 
Philem.  5,  19.  The  faith  which  is  among  you.  This  is  practically 
the  same  as  your  faith,  though  some  think  it  means  that  true  faith 
existed  among  them,  though  not  all  of  them  had  it  (Alford).  And 
which  ye  shew  toward  all  the  saints.  The  words  ye  shew  are  not  in 
the  Greek  text  here  at  all;  but  according  to  the  best  text,  which  omits 
the  words  the  love^  some  such  words  need  to  be  supplied. 

78 


EPHESIANS 


1 6.  shew  toward  all  the  saints,  °cease  not  to  give  thanks 

17.  for  you,  °making  mention  of  you  in  my  prayers;  °that 
the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  °the  Father  of  glory, 
°may  give  unto  you  °a  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation 

18.  °in  the  knowledge  of  him;    °having  the  eyes  of  your 

16.  Cease  not  to  give  thanks  for  you.  This  does  not  mean  that 
he  spent  all  his  time  in  giving  thanks  for  them,  nor  is  it  "an  affec- 
tionate hyperbole,"  as  Bishop  Ellicott  calls  it;  it  means  that  he  did 
not  fail  to  give  thanks  for  them  from  time  to  time.  Making  mention 
of  you  in  my  prayers.  The  words  of  you  are  not  in  the  original  and 
there  is  no  need  for  supplying  them.  It  was  not  of  his  readers  that 
he  means  to  say  he  made  mention,  but  of  the  thing  that  he  most 
wished  for  them.  At  the  time  of  my  prayers  I  make  it  a  matter  of 
special  mention,  namely: 

17.  That  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Christ  himself,  in  the 
consciousness  of  his  relation  of  subordination  to  and  dependence  on 
God  the  Father,  calls  him  "my  God,"  Mt.  27  :  46;  Jn,  20  :  17.  Or 
the  words  may  here  mean,  the  God  whom  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  re- 
vealed. The  Father  of  glory.  The  Father  to  whom  the  glory  ^ar 
excellence  belonged.  Compare  such  phrases  as  "the  Father  of  mer- 
cies." To  translate  the  words  here  the  glorious  Father  would  weaken 
the  thought.  These  rather  singular  designations  are  chosen  with 
special  reference  to  the  contents  of  the  prayer  which  follows:  He  who 
is  the  God  of  Christ  and  your  Father,  to  whom  glory  belongs  (power 
and  might  and  majesty),  may  surely  be  expected  to  do  that  which 
the  cause  of  Christ  requires,  which  his  children  need,  and  which  will 
serve  to  show  his  power  and  manifest  his  glory.  May  give  unto  you. 
This  is  what  Paul  said  he  made  special  mention  of.  A  spirit  of  wisdom 
and  revelation.  Better,  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  etc.,  for  it  is  the  Holy 
Spirit  that  is  meant,  as  is  usual  in  the  New  Testament  when  spirit  is 
spoken  of  as  given.  "It  is  a  teaching  Spirit  rather  than  a  teachable 
spirit."  He  is  called  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  revelation  because 
he  gives  wisdom  and  revelations,  as  in  Rom.  8  :  2  he  is  called  the 
spirit  of  life  because  he  gives  life.  In  i  Cor.  2  :  10  Paul  declares  that 
the  secrets  of  God  are  revealed  through  his  Spirit.  And  without  reve- 
lation they  cannot  be  known;  without  it,  indeed,  these  secrets,  even 
when  declared  to  men  in  their  unregenerate  state,  are  incredible  or 
they  seem  foolish  (i  Cor.  2  :  14).  In  the  knowledge  of  him.  It  is  not 
in  the  sphere  of  the  knowledge  of  things  in  general  that  Paul  asks  for 
them  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation,  but  of  the  knowledge,  full, 
true,  and  thorough  knowledge,  of  God. 

18.  Having  the  eyes  of  your  heart  enlightened.  This  is  not  a  mere 
intellectual  enlightenment,  but  is  of  the  heart,  which  is  conceived  as 

79 


i:i9  EPHESIANS 


heart  enlightened,  °that  ye  may  know  °what  is  the  hope 

of  his  calling,  °what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  in- 

19.  heritance  °in  the  saints,  °and  what  the  exceeding  great- 


the  seat  of  the  feelings  and  the  will.  It  is  the  will  especially  that 
determines  character  and  hence  has  most  to  do  with  the  capacity  of 
moral  perception,  discernment,  as  in  Jn.  7  :  17.  That  ye  may  know. 
These  words  express  the  object,  either  of  the  giving  of  the  spirit  of 
wisdom  and  revelation,  thus:  in  order  that  ye,  being  enlightened  as 
to  the  eyes  of  your  heart,  may  know;  or  of  the  enlightening  of  the  eyes 
of  the  heart,  thus :  the  eyes  of  your  heart  being  enlightened  that  ye 
may  know,  etc.  The  grammatical  construction  of  the  first  is  easier. 
At  any  rate  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  have  a  divine  illumination  in 
order  that  they  may  have  effective  and  adequate  comprehension  of 
the  three  things  that  follow,  namely,  the  hope  of  God's  calling,  the 
object  of  that  hope,  the  greatness  of  the  power  that  is  pledged  for  its 
realization.  What  is  the  hope  of  his  calling.  Note  that  it  is  God's 
calling.  That  calling  involves  a  hope,  and  we  should  know  the  full 
significance  and  power  of  a  hope  that  is  involved  in  being  called  of 
God.  This  we  cannot  realize  in  its  full  scope  and  meaning  without  the 
quickening  and  illumination  of  the  divine  Spirit,  whose  very  function 
it  is  to  give  wisdom  and  make  revelations  to  believers.  The  hope  is 
not  here  put  for  the  thing  hoped  for,  as  in  Col.  1:5.  The  thing  hoped 
for  is  the  subject  of  the  next  clause,  as  follows :  What  the  riches  of  the 
glory  of  his  inheritance.  As  it  was  God's  calling,  so  it  is  his  inheritance 
or  heritage.  "  The  Lord's  portion  is  his  people,  .  .  .  the  lot  of  his 
inheritance."  Paul  wished  and  longed  and  prayed  that  his  readers 
might  be  enabled,  empowered,  to  understand,  not  how  glorious  is  the 
riches,  but  how  rich  would  be  the  glory  which  God  would  take  pride 
in  bestowing  upon  the  people  whom  he  had  chosen  as  his  own  portion 
and  heritage.  This  they  could  not  do  unless  he  gave  and  they  re- 
ceived his  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation.  Evidently,  Paul  himself 
understood  this,  and  hence  his  eagerness  that  his  readers  might  have 
the  same  inspiration.  In  the  saints.  That  is,  God's  heritage  consists 
in  the  saints,  for  "the  Lord's  portion  is  his  people,"  even  as  one  of 
them  had  said,  "  The  Lord  is  my  portion."  The  fact  that  Christians 
are  not  fired  with  a  Pauline  enthusiasm  and  Christendom  is  not  trans- 
figured, is  proof  that  they  do  not  know  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  being 
God's  heritage. 

19.  And  what  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power.  After  the 
reference  to  the  object  of  the  great  hope  comes  the  description  in 
detail  of  that  power  by  means  of  which  the  hope  is  to  be  realized, 
namely,  the  exceeding  great  power  of  God  as  shown,  in  the  first  place, 
in  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead  and  his  exaltation  and 

80 


EPHESIANS 


ness  of  his  power  °to  us- ward  who  believe,    ^according 

20.  to  that  working  of  the  strength  of  his  might  ° which 
he  wrought  in  Christ,  °when  he  raised  him  from  the 
dead,  °and  made  him  to  sit  at  his  right  hand  °in  the 

21.  heavenly  places,  °far  above  all  rule,  and  authority, 
and  power,  and  dominion,  °and  every  name   that  is 


glorification  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  To  us-ward  who  believe. 
That  is,  in  its  relation  and  application  to  us  believers.  Now  Paul 
is  here  speaking,  not  primarily  of  the  power  of  God  as  already  mani- 
festing itself  in  the  experience  of  believers  in  this  life,  but  of  that  power 
as  manifesting  itself  or  to  be  manifested  in  the  case  of  believers  at  the 
parousia,  when  the  mighty  working  of  that  power  which  was  displayed 
in  Christ's  resurrection  and  exaltation  will,  in  virtue  of  their  fellow- 
ship with  Christ,  bring  about  the  fulfilment  of  their  hope,  namely, 
the  realization  of  the  wealth  of  glory  which  belongs  to  the  saints  as 
the  chosen  and  beloved  heritage  of  God  (Rom.  8  :  17).  But  note 
carefully  the  comment  on  chap.  2  :  i,  below.  According  to  that 
working  of  the  strength  of  his  might.  This  is  adduced  as  the  means 
of  measuring  or  estimating  the  greatness  of  the  power  of  God  pledged 
for  the  fulfilment  of  the  hope  of  believers,  and  so  as  the  ground  of 
"knowing"  it  ("that  ye  may  know").  The  accumulation  of  words 
for  power  in  this  passage  illustrates  how  Paul  had  to  struggle  with 
language  in  order  to  give  expression  to  the  surging  thoughts  within 
him. 

20.  Which  he  wrought  in  Christ  =  which  he  effectively  exercised 
in  the  case  of  Christ.  When  he  raised  him  from  the  dead.  Better,  in 
that  he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  or  in  the  act  of  raising  him  from 
the  dead.  And  made  him  to  sit  at  his  right  hand.  This  exaltation  of 
Christ  is  cited  as  a  distinct  instance  and  proof  of  what  the  energetic 
working  of  the  power  of  God  has  done,  can  do.  In  the  heavenly 
places.  Here  apparently  a  specification  of  place.  Compare  Mt.  6:9; 
24  :  30;  25  :  31;   Acts  7  :  55;    Phil.  3  :  20. 

21.  Far  above  all  rule,  and  authority,  and  power,  and  dominion. 
Whether  Paul  himself  believed  in  or  held  to  any  graduated  order  of 
angelic  beings  such  as  is  found  in  the  Jewish  literature  of  his  day,  or 
whether  his  lists  of  such  orders  (as  here  and  Rom.  8  :  38;  Col.  i  :  16; 
Eph.  3  :  10)  are  quotations  of  the  opinions  of  others  or  of  current 
theories,  we  cannot  definitely  say.  At  any  rate,  he  probably  means 
something  like  this:  "Whatever  beings  or  powers  or  dignities  there 
may  be,  by  whatever  names  they  may  be  called,  Christ  is  exalted  far 
above  them  all."  And  every  name  that  is  named.  As  if  he  would  say, 
"and  whatever  other  orders  than  those  I  have  named  or  by  whatever 

G  81 


22  EPHESIANS 


named,  °not  only  in  this  ^  world,  but  also  in  that  which 

22.  is  to  come:   °and  he  put  all  things  in  subjection  under 
his  feet,  °and  gave  him  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the 

23.  church,  ^which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth 
all  in  all. 

*  Or,  age 

name  they  may  be  called,  Christ  is  sovereign  over  them  too."  There 
seems  to  be  a  suggestion  here  that  they  were  after  all  nothing  hut 
names.  Not  only  in  this  world  (or  age),  but  also  in  that  which  is  to 
come.  Paul  is  determined  to  exhaust  the  universe,  future  as  well  as 
present,  for  his  words  embrace  all  beings  that  now  exist  and  all  that 
may  exist  in  any  possible  future.  Whatever  name  they  may  bear, 
whatever  world  or  age  they  may  belong  to,  Christ  is  Lord  of  all. 
This  recalls  his  sweeping  language  in  Col.  i  :  16,  17. 

22.  And  he  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet.  He  has 
already  set  forth  most  exhaustively  the  exaltation  of  Christ  above  all 
things,  but  he  does  not  leave  the  subjection  of  all  things  to  Christ 
to  be  inferred;  he  distinctly  states  it.  All  that  has  been  created  God 
has  subjected  to  the  will  and  rule  of  Christ.  Nor  is  this  conception 
peculiar  to  Paul.  Already  Christ  himself  has  said  in  so  many  words: 
"All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth," 
Mt.  28 :  18.  And  gave  him  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the  church. 
Strictly  it  is:  And  him,  head  over  all  things,  as  being  head  overall 
things,  God  gave  to  the  church  (of  course,  to  be  its  head  also).  The 
word  him  stands  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence  and  has  the  primary 
emphasis,  thus:  Him,  the  one  exalted  and  ruling  over  all  in  heaven 
and  on  earth,  him  God  gave  to  the  church,  i.e..,  God  in  giving  Christ 
to  the  church  gave  him  as  the  one  who  is  Head  over  all  things.  It 
is  implied,  of  course,  that  God  gave  him  who  is  Head  over  all  things, 
to  the  church  to  be  its  Head  also  —  a  view  which  is  confirmed  by 
the  following  clause,  "which  is  his  body." 

23.  Which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all. 
This  has  been  called  "the  most  remarkable  expression  in  the  whole 
epistle."  The  church  is  here  called,  not  only  the  body  of  Christ,  but 
the  fulness,  that  is,  the  completion  of  Christ.  It  is  that  without  which 
Christ  is  not  complete,  as  the  head  is  not  complete  without  the  body. 
The  Apostle  looks  upon  Christ  as  in  a  sense  wanting  completeness 
and  destined  to  find  completeness  in  the  church.  In  the  sense  in 
which  the  body  is  the  completion  of  the  head,  the  church  is  the  com- 
pletion of  Christ.  That  is,  the  church  is  that  through  which  Christ 
lives  and  works  here  on  earth.  This  is  a  matter  of  fact,  and  it  suits 
the  conception  of  the  church  as  Christ's  body.     And  as  the  church 

82 


EPHESIANS 


IV.  The     Supernatural     Work    which     God     had 

WROUGHT  IN  them;  AND  ThIS  THAT  THEY 
MIGHT  WORK  FOR  HiM  —  AND  AlL 

THROUGH  His  Grace,  2  :  i-io 

2.       °And  you  did  he  quicken,  °when  ye  were  dead  through 

2.  your  trespasses  and  sins,  ° wherein  aforetime  ye  walked 

^according  to  the  ^  course  of  this  world,  ^according  to 

*  Gr.  age 

grows  toward  completion,  Christ  grows  toward  completion.  This 
interpretation  illuminates  and  is  illuminated  by  an  almost  equally 
remarkable  passage  in  Colossians  (i  :  24),  where  Paul  says,  "I  am 
filling  up  on  my  part  that  which  is  lacking  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ 
in  my  flesh  for  his  body's  sake,  which  is  the  church." 

1.  And  you  did  he  quicken.  The  greatness  of  God's  power  toward 
believers  has  already  been  illustrated  and  measured  by  what  he 
wrought  in  raising  Christ  from  the  dead  and  exalting  him  to  God's 
right  hand,  supreme  over  all  authority  and  rule.  In  the  next  place, 
Paul  tells  his  readers  that  they  have  had  experience  of  that  power  at 
work  in  themselves.  Through  it  they  also  had  been  raised  from  the 
dead.  So  that  the  description  of  the  greatness  of  God's  power  in 
chap.  I,  verses  19,  20,  21,  22,  is  not  to  be  understood  as  applying 
exclusively  to  the  realization  of  their  hope  at  the  time  of  the  parousia. 
It  applies  to  the  present  inward  experience  of  believers  here  in  this 
life  also.  For  Paul  here  describes  the  spiritual  quickening  and 
resurrection  to  new  life  of  his  readers  as  an  actual  experience  which 
they  had  already  realized.  When  ye  were  dead.  That  is,  morally  and 
spiritually  dead;  and  this  state  of  deadness  to  spiritual  things  was 
brought  about  by  means  of  their  sins.  Similarly,  Paul  speaks  of  his 
own  experience  of  sin  causing  his  death,  in  a  statement  of  singular 
significance  in  Rom.  7  :  9,  10. 

2.  Wherein  aforetime  ye  walked.  This  sentence  affords  a  good 
example  of  the  way  in  which  Paul  "goes  off  at  a  word."  The  word  is 
"sins."  It  leads  him  away  into  a  digression  occupying  the  whole  of 
verses  2  and  3.  But  according  to  his  custom  he  returns  to  the  original 
thought  in  verse  4  and  completes  it.  In  this  digression  he  pauses  to 
explain  how  his  readers  had  gotten  into  a  state  of  deadness  to  moral 
and  spiritual  truth  and  reality.  It  was  because  they  had  lived  in 
habitual  practice  of  sin.  This  was  what  had  killed  them.  According 
to  the  course  of  this  world.    Literally,  according  to  the  age  of  this 

S3 


EPHESIANS 


the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  °of  the  spirit  that  now 

3.   worketh  in   the  sons  of   disobedience;    °among  whom 

°we  also  all  °once  lived  °m  the  lusts  of  our  flesh,  °doing 

the  desires  of  the  flesh  °and  of  the  ^  mind,  °and  were  by 

*  Gr.  thoughts. 

world,  a  pleonasm  perhaps  for  emphasis.  According  to  "the  spirit 
of  the  age  "  is  good,  but  inadequate.  The  word  age  here  evidently 
has  an  ethical  sense.  The  combination  might  be  paraphrased, 
"according  to  the  low  moral  quality  and  drift  of  this  world."  Accord- 
ing to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air.  According  to  some  com- 
mentators Paul  means  to  define  literally  the  locality  where  the  powers 
of  evil  operate  —  "the  superterrestrial  but  subcelestial  region 
which  seems  to  be  the  haunt  of  evil  spirits."  Others  think  he 
is  using  the  common  parlance  of  his  day  which  would  be  familiar 
to  his  readers.  The  sense  is  that  his  readers  in  their  prechristian, 
unenlightened  condition  were  under  the  power  and  lived  according 
to  the  will  of  the  chief  of  all  the  powers  of  evil.  This  imparts  a  shade 
of  deeper  darkness  to  his  description  of  the  former  state  of  these  now 
Christian  believers.  Of  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  sons  of 
disobedience.  The  same  "prince"  is  in  some  sense  the  ruler  of  the 
spirit  of  the  world  (i  Cor.  2  :  12),  the  spiritual  influence  which  "ener- 
gizes" in  bad  men,  here  with  Hebrew  picturesqueness  called  "the 
sons  of  disobedience."  It  is  very  significant  that  in  this  great  epistle, 
where  Paul  ascends  to  the  highest  heights  and  unveils  the  highest 
glories  of  holiness  and  purity,  he  also  descends  deepest  into  mystery 
of  iniquity  and  unveils  its  undiscovered  sources.  Compare  the  pas- 
sages, 4  :  17-19;  5  :  7,  11-12;  6  :  12,  all  of  which  are  similar  in  tone 
and  color  to  that  which  we  are  considering. 

3.  Among  whom.  That  is,  among  the  sons  of  disobedience  of 
whom  we  were  part.  Here  again  Paul  "  goes  off  at  a  word  "  into  an- 
other digression,  making  a  digression  within  a  digression.  We  also  all. 
Here  he  changes  to  the  first  person  and  adds  the  word  all  so  as  to 
make  the  description  include  all  classes  and  all  men.  Once  lived. 
Formerly  had  our  life  and  conduct.  In  the  lusts  of  our  flesh.  These 
are  two  very  bad  words.  The  flesh  is  human  nature  apart  from  God 
and  under  the  dominion  of  sin;  the  lusts  are  the  lower  animal  passions 
that  belong  to  and  dominate  this  human  nature.  Doing  the  desires  of 
the  flesh.  They  put  into  acts  the  desires  of  their  fleshly  nature. 
And  of  the  mind.  Rather,  of  the  thoughts.  This  is  another  bad  word, 
at  least  it  is  found  in  low,  bad  company  in  the  New  Testament.  Most 
of  us  do  not  need  to  have  anybody  tell  us  what  bad  thoughts  are. 
We  know,  alas!    too  well.     And  were  by  nature  children  of  wrath. 


EPHESIANS  2:5 


4.  nature  children  of  wrath,  °even  as  the  rest :  —  °but  God, 
°being  rich  in  mercy,  °for  his  great  love  ^wherewith 

5.  he  loved  us,  °even  when  we  were  dead  through  our 
trespasses,     ^quickened    us    ^together    ^  with     Christ 

*  Some  ancient  authorities  read  in  Christ. 


This  looks  at  first  as  if  Paul  meant  that  they  were,  that  we  were,  by 
birth  and  from  birth,  under  the  wrath  of  God;  that  infants  and  inno- 
cent little  children,  such  as  Jesus  loved  and  commended,  are  the 
objects  of  God's  anger.  But  Paul  does  not  mean  this  or  say  this.  He 
would  have  contradicted  what  he  had  already  said  in  i  Cor.  7  :  14. 
The  clause  preceding  this  tells  what  they  did,  this  clause  tells  what 
they  had  thereby  become.  The  meaning  is  that  they  all,  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  were  by  the  spontaneous  impulses  and  desires  of  their 
nature,  inclined  to  wrong-doing,  to  the  doing  of  those  things  which 
would  put  them  under  the  wrath  of  God;  and  as,  following  the  im- 
pulses of  their  nature,  they  had  all  actually  done  those  things,  had 
lived  in  the  habitual  practice  of  them,  it  could  be  said  with  truth  that 
they  were  in  a  state  of  exposure  to  the  wrath  of  God  as  a  result  of 
following  the  desires  and  passions  of  their  nature;  that  is,  they  had 
come  to  be  by  their  very  nature  the  objects  of  God's  wrath.  Even 
as  the  rest.  That  is,  we  who  are  now  the  happy  children  of  God, 
free  from  the  dominion  of  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  we  were  formerly  in 
the  condition  I  have  just  described,  just  as  all  the  rest  of  the  unregener- 
ate  world  were  and  still  are. 

4.  But  God.  This  introduces  the  resumption  of  that  sentence  which 
was  begun  in  verse  i  and  then  interrupted  by  the  digressions  of  verses 
2  and  3.  Being  rich  in  mercy.  If  there  is  wrath,  there  is  mercy  also, 
rich  mercy.  For  his  great  love.  That  is,  because  of  his  great  love, 
in  order  to  satisfy  it.  If  there  is  wrath,  there  is  love,  great  love.  But 
is  it  possible  for  God  to  love  those  with  whom  he  is  angry  or  to  be 
angry  with  those  whom  he  loves?  Certainly.  Parents  are  sometimes 
angry,  very  angry,  with  the  children  whom  they  love,  perhaps  some- 
times even  because  they  love  them.  Wherewith  he  loved  us.  This  is 
probably  not  so  much  for  emphasis,  as  to  make  a  connecting  link 
with  the  following  words,  and  is  about  equivalent  to  this:  the  great 
love  which  he  had  for  us  even  when,  etc. 

5.  Even  when  we  were  dead.  An  emphatic  repetition  of  the  similar 
clause  in  verse  i  and  presenting  the  extreme  of  the  case.  Quickened 
us.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  timid  conservatism  of  the  revisers  would  not 
let  thern  abandon  this  archaism  for  a  fresh  and  faithful  translation  of 
the  vivid  and  picturesque  Greek  word,  he  made  us  alive.  Meanwhile, 
it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  this  act  of  God  is  adduced  here  as  a 

85 


2:6  EPHESIANS 


6.  (°by  grace  have  ye  been  saved),  and  raised  us  up  with 
him,  and  made  us  to  sit  with  him  in  the  heavenly  places, 

7.  in  Christ  Jesus:  °that  in  the  ages  to  come  °he  might 
shew  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace  °in  kindness 

8.  toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus :  °for  by  grace  have  ye  been 
saved  ^through  faith;    °and  that  not  of  yourselves:   it 


manifestation  and  an  example  of  "the  exceeding  greatness  of  the 
power  of  God  to  us-ward  who  believe,"  as  the  resurrection  and  exal- 
tation of  Jesus  was  adduced  for  the  same  purpose.  Together  with 
Christ.  Paul  has  already  said  (in  i  :  23)  that  the  church  is  Christ's 
body,  and  by  virtue  of  our  union  with  him  as  of  members  with  the 
head,  we  share  in  the  resurrection  and  exaltation  of  Christ.  We  have 
already  had  the  experience  of  resurrection  into  a  new  spiritual  life, 
and  the  sequel,  though  future,  is  secure,  as  good  as  realized  already. 
Of.  Rom.  6  :  4-8.  By  grace  have  ye  been  saved.  If  they  were 
quickened  when  they  were  dead,  then  it  could  not  have  been  of  them- 
selves, for  dead  people  can  do  nothing;  it  must  have  been  by  God's 
free  grace. 

7.  That  in  the  ages  to  come.  Literally,  the  ages  that  are  coming 
on  —  the  successively  arriving  and  passing  ages  from  that  time  for 
evermore,  as  in  3  :  21.  He  might  shew  the  exceeding  riches  of  his 
grace.  Practically  the  same  thought  as  in  i  :  6,  "to  the  praise  of  the 
glory  of  his  grace."  But  it  comes  in  again  here  —  and  everywhere; 
for  Paul  cannot  get  away  from  the  grace  of  God.  In  kindness  toward 
us  in  Christ  Jesus.  Defining  how  the  grace  expressed  itself,  his  grace, 
which  expressed  itself  in  the  gracious  kindness  with  which  he  dealt 
with  us.  Grace  is  the  source  of  the  kindness  and  Christ  Jesus  is 
the  great  expression  of  the  grace. 

8.  For.  I  am  justified  in  speaking  thus  of  the  riches  of  his  grace, 
for  it  is  by  this  grace  that  you  have  been  saved  and  are  now  in  a  state 
of  salvation.  Through  faith.  And  if  it  was  by  grace  on  God's  part,  it 
was,  as  it  had  to  be,  by  faith,  for  grace  and  faith  are  naturally  cor- 
relative and  mutually  implicative,  as  in  Rom.  4  :  16.  And  that  not 
of  yourselves:  it  is  the  gift  of  God.  To  refer  the  emphatic  phrase 
"and  that"  to  the  preceding  statement,  that  it  was  by  grace  they 
had  been  saved  through  faith,  is  untenable,  because  it  is,  in  that  case, 
practically  an  unnecessary  repetition,  a  weak  redundancy.  If  they 
were  saved  by  grace,  of  course  it  was  the  gift  of  God;  that  is  what 
grace  means.  Why  should  it  be  said  over  again  and  the  redundant 
word  be  introduced  with  a  very  emphatic  phrase?  But  make  and 
that  refer  to  faith,  and  there  is  an  advance  in  the  thought  and  pro- 
priety in  the  emphasis,  as  well  as  truth  in  the  statement.    Besides,  it 

86 


EPHESIANS 


9.  is  the  gift  of  God :   °not  of  works,  that  no  man  should 
10.   glory.     °For   we    are   his   workmanship,    ^created   in 
Christ  Jesus  °for  good  works,  °which  God  afore  pre- 
pared that  we  should  walk  in  thejn. 


is  Pauline.  In  Phil,  i  :  29  Paul  says  "To  you  it  hath  been  granted  not 
only  to  believe  on  him,"  etc.  It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  say  that 
this  is  the  view  of  that  great  synergistic  Arminian,  John  Wesley, 
epigrammatically  and  emphatically  expressed  in  his  sermon  on  this 
very  verse.  So  also  Chrysostom,  Theodoret,  Jerome,  Erasmus,  Beza, 
Bengel,  etc.  The  Greek  allows  this :  see  Abbott,  Salmond  and  Rob- 
inson, in  loc. 

9.  Not  of  works.  That  is,  salvation  through  faith  does  not  belong 
to  the  category  of  works,  which  give  a  ground  for  glorying;  so  that,  as 
it  is  by  faith,  no  one  may  glory.  "  That  the  glory  of  salvation  belongs 
wholly  to  God  and  has  been  so  planned  and  effected  as  to  take  from 
man  all  ground  of  boasting,  is  enforced  by  Paul  again  and  again  with 
anxious  concern  and  great  plainness  of  expression." 

10.  For  we  are  his  workmanship.  This  is  the  reason  why  there  is 
no  ground  for  glorying.  What  we  are  as  Christians  God  himself  has 
made  us.  Created  in  Christ  Jesus.  When  Paul  said  we  are  God's 
work,  he  was  not  speaking  of  the  first  creation,  as,  for  example,  the 
Psalmist  meant,  when  he  said  "It  is  he  that  made  us  and  not  we 
ourselves";  he  was  speaking  of  the  new  creation.  What  true  Chris- 
tians are  is  the  product  of  the  creative  energy  and  action  of  God. 
Nothing  less  than  a  creative  agency  could  produce  such  an  effect. 
And  this  was  done,  not  apart  from  Christ,  but  through  the  process 
of  being  brought  into  vital  union  with  him  so  as  to  become  sharers  of 
his  life  as  the  branch  shares  the  life  of  the  vine.  For  good  works. 
Good  works  are  not  left  out,  they  are  expressly  provided  for;  but  they 
come  after  and  as  the  result  of  our  being  created  anew  in  Christ. 
If  they  follow  as  the  result  of  our  salvation,  they  cannot  be  the  con- 
dition or  the  means  of  our  salvation.  Which  God  afore  prepared. 
It  is  as  unintelligible  as  it  is  incorrect  to  say  that  God  prepared  good 
works.  It  is  perfectly  intelligible  and  in  accordance  with  the  truth 
to  say  that  God  made  preparation  for  good  works,  and  it  is  gram- 
matically correct:  We  were  created  in  Christ  Jesus,  then,  for  good 
works,  for  which  God  made  previous  preparation  or  provision,  in 
order  that  we  live  our  lives  in  the  practice  of  them.  We  are  God's 
work  and  we  are  God's  workmen.  Or  the  construction  may  be  this: 
Good  works  for  which  God  prepared  us  (understood)  by  creating  us 
anew  in  Christ. 


87 


EPHESIANS 


V.  The   Reconciliation  and   Reunion  of   the   Two 

Sundered  Portions  of  Humanity  —  Jews 

AND    Gentiles  —  Through   the 

Cross,  2  :  11-22 

11.  ^Wherefore  remember,  that  aforetime  °ye,  the  Gen- 
tiles in  the  flesh,  °who  are  called  Uncircumcision  by 
that  which  is  called  Circumcision,  in  the  flesh,  made 

12.  by  hands;  °that  ye  were  at  that  time  ^separate  from 
Christ,  ^alienated  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and 
strangers  from  the  covenants  of  the  promise,  °having 

13.  no  hope  and  °without  God  °in  the  world.  °But  now 
°in  Christ  Jesus  °ye  that  once  were  far  o£F  °are  made 


11.  Wherefore  remember.  One  of  the  worst  things  that  we  can  do  is 
to  forget.  Paul  will  remind  these  Christians  of  Asia,  who,  only  a  little 
while  ago,  were  sodden  heathen,  of  the  hole  of  the  pit  whence  they 
were  digged,  that  they  might  be  more  thankful,  more  humble,  more 
careful,  more  diligent,  more  faithful.  Ye,  the  Gentiles  in  the  flesh. 
With  respect  to  the  mark  in  the  flesh  which  distinguished  them  as 
Gentiles  from  Jews.  Who  are  called  Uncircumcision.  Called  in 
contempt  Uncircumcision  by  the  so-called  Circumcision  (that  is,  the 
Jews)  in  the  flesh,  a  circumcision  merely  physical  and  made  with  hands. 

12.  That  ye  were  at  that  time.  In  verse  ii  Paul  went  off  again 
at  the  word  "Gentiles"  into  a  digression  running  through  the  verse. 
Now  he  resumes  with  the  word  "that,"  which  is  repeated  in  Greek  as 
in  English.  Separate  from  Christ.  They  were  without  Christ,  apart 
from  Christ,  in  the  sense  that  they  had  never  so  much  as  heard  of  him, 
and  so  had  nothing  to  do  with  him.  Alienated  from  the  common- 
wealth of  Israel.  Not  only  were  you  without  Christ,  you  did  not  even 
have  the  advantages  and  privileges  of  Jews,  with  the  different  cove- 
nants that  were  made  with  them  involving  the  promise  of  a  Christ 
and  so  inspiring  in  them  a  hope.  Having  no  hope.  The  Gentiles  did 
not  have  even  this  hope.  Without  God.  You  were  atheists  —  not 
exactly  in  the  modern  sense  of  being  deniers  of  God  —  they  did  not 
even  have  a  God  to  deny,  as  the  moderns  have.  In  the  world.  No 
hope,  no  God,  in  this  dark,  desolate  world  of  sin  and  sorrow. 

13.  But  now.  But  now!  these  words  alone  after  the  dark  picture 
of  their  former  condition  would  be  pregnant  with  vivid  suggestive- 
ness.    In  Christ  Jesus.     Here,  as  everywhere,  Christ,  that  is,  Jesus 

88 


EPHESIANS  2:15 


14.  nigh  °iii  the  blood  of  Christ.     °For  he  *^is  our  peace, 
°who  made  both  one,  °and  brake  down  the  middle  wall 

15.  of  partition,  ^having  abolished  °in  his  flesh  °the  enmity, 
even  the  law  of  commandments  ^contained  in  ordinances; 


the  Christ,  is  first,  for  Paul.  It  is  impossible  for  Paul  to  forget  and 
leave  him  out.  These  words  in  Christ  Jesus  are  to  be  construed  with 
are  made  nigh,  below.  Ye  that  once  were  far  off.  A  summary  re- 
statement of  the  detailed  description  already  given.  Are  made  nigh. 
These  words  likewise  are  a  compendious  statement  of  their  present 
condition,  implying  the  opposite  in  every  point  and  detail  of  their 
pfevious  condition.  In  the  blood  of  Christ.  A  more  specific  defini- 
tion of  the  phrase  in  Christ  Jesus.  It  was  through  his  death  that  the 
Gentiles  were  admitted. 

14.  For  he.  Strong  emphasis  in  the  Greek  =  for  it  is  he,  in  his  own 
person.  Is  our  peace.  That  is,  he  is  the  bond  of  reconciliation, 
reunion,  peace,  between  Jew  and  Gentile.  Who  made  both  one.  He 
has  harmonized  and  unified  Jew  and  Gentile.  And  brake  down  the 
middle  wall  of  partition.  That  is,  the  wall  which  stood  in  the  middle 
between  Jew  and  Gentile  and  served  as  a  partition,  keeping  them  apart. 

15.  Having  abolished.  Rather,  in  that  he  did  abolish.  In  his 
flesh.  The  parallel  passage  in  Col.  i  :  22  shows  that  this  means  by 
his  crucifixion  in  the  fiesh.  The  enmity,  even  the  law  of  command- 
ments. The  law  which  the  Jews  had  and  in  which  they  gloried  was 
that  which  made  the  distinction  between  Jew  and  Gentile  and  so 
separated  them,  thus  creating  the  enmity  which  existed  between 
them.  Contained  in  ordinances.  This  describes  the  form  of  the  law 
(see  Col.  2  :  14  and  the  note  thereon).  The  law  commanded;  it 
commanded  in  the  form  of  "decrees,"  rules,  and  regulations,  pre- 
scribing and  regulating  all  the  minutest  details  of  the  everyday  life. 
The  observance  of  all  these  rules  was  what  made  the  Jew  so  different 
from  the  Gentile;  and  the  difference  made  the  Jew  look  down  with 
contempt  and  hatred  on  the  Gentile  as  an  alien  and  a  dog ;  while  it 
made  the  Gentile  despise  the  Jew  as  a  fanatic  and  a  fool.  So  they 
were  at  enmity.  When  Paul  was  writing  to  the  Colossians,  he  said 
nothing  of  the  law  as  the  partition  that  separated  Jew  and  Gentile. 
He  wrote  of  it  as  a  system  of  prescriptions  and  ordinances  which 
would  hold  them  in  the  bondage  of  a  barren  legalism  and  a  fruitless 
asceticism,  if  they  allowed  the  false  teachers  there  to  impose  it  on 
them.  But  in  his  letter  to  the  various  churches  of  Asia  his  point  of 
view  is  different.  He  writes  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  all  men  of  all  races,  and  the  ideal  unity  of  the  race.  This 
suggests  another  aspect  and  effect  of  the  law  of  ordinances,  which  was, 
that  as  long  as  it  was  in  force,  it  kept  Jew  and  Gentile  effectually  and 

89 


EPHESIANS 


°that  he  might  create  in  himself  of  the  twain  one  new 
i6.   man,  °so  making  peace;  °and    might  reconcile   them 

both  °in  one  body  unto  God  ^through  the  cross,  ^having 
17.  slain  the  enmity  thereby:  °and  he  came  and  ^ preached 


»  Gr.  Preached  good  tidings  of  peace. 


hopelessly  asunder.  Hence  the  abolition  of  this  law  would  have  the 
effect  of  bringing  the  two  together.  The  Jews  were  drawn  away  from 
the  law  and  led  to  abandon  the  law  and  take  refuge  in  Christ  for 
salvation.  The  Gentiles  were  drawn  away  from  their  sins  and  sinful- 
ness and  their  sense  of  condemnation  to  Christ  for  salvation.  In 
Christ,  then,  they  meet  and  are  one. 

This  paragraph  (2  :  11-22)  is  preparatory  to  the  great  passage  on 
ideal  unity  in  4  :  1-16. 

That  he  might  create  in  himself  of  the  twain  one  new  man. 
This  translation  is  obscure  and  misleading.  It  is :  thai  he  might  in 
himself  create  the  two  into  one  new  man.  This  states  the  purpose  he 
had  in  view  in  abolishing  the  law  of  ordinances  which  had  served  as 
a  barrier  between  Jew  and  Gentile.  So  Christ,  having  abolished  the 
barrier,  has  created  (note  the  word!)  each  of  the  two  into  a  man  that 
was  neither  Jew  nor  Gentile,  but  a  new  man.  So  making  peace.  It 
was  by  creating  of  the  Jew  a  new  man  and  of  the  Gentile  (the  same 
kind  of)  new  man  that  he  made  peace  between  them,  brought  them 
into  harmony  and  union. 

16.  And  might  reconcile  them  both  in  one  body  unto  God.  Not 
only  was  it  the  purpose  and  mission  of  Jesus  Christ  to  reconcile  Jew 
and  Gentile  to  each  other,  but  in  the  same  act  to  reconcile  them  both 
together  unto  God.  In  one  body.  This  is  one  of  the  great  dominating 
ideas  of  this  epistle.  It  is  expanded  and  fully  treated  in  the  great 
passage  on  unity  in  chap.  4  :  3-16,  where  see  notes.  Compare  also 
Col.  3  :  15;  I  Cor.  10  :  17.  Through  the  cross.  By  his  death,  as  has 
been  said.  But  Paul  dwells  on  it  and  goes  over  it  with  loving  iteration. 
Having  slain  the  enmity  thereby.  The  Jew,  despairing  of  justification 
and  deliverance  from  sin  through  the  law,  turned  from  it  to  Christ, 
Rom.  7  and  Gal.  3  :  24;  the  Gentile,  convicted  of  his  sins  by  the 
light  of  the  revelations  contained  in  the  gospel  and  made  sensible  of 
the  corruption  of  his  nature  and  the  darkness  and  hopelessness  of 
his  condition,  turned  to  Christ.  So  that  Jew  and  Gentile  meet  in 
Christ  and,  experiencing  salvation  through  his  reconciling  death,  are 
no  longer  two  but  one. 

17.  And  he  came  and  preached  peace.  He  not  only  made  peace 
by  his  death,  he  came  and  proclaimed  the  glad  tidings  of  peace. 
This  seems  to  imply  that  he  came  and  preached  it  after  his  death.    He 

90 


EPHESIANS 


peace  °to  you  that  were  far  off,  and  peace  to  them  that 
i8.   were  nigh:   °for  through  him  we  both  have  our  access 

19.  in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father.  °So  then  °ye  are  no 
more  strangers  and  sojourners,  °but  ye  are  fellow- 
citizens  with  the  saints,  °and  of  the  household  of  God, 

20.  °being  built  upon  the  foundation  °of  the  apostles  and 


came  in  his  own  person  after  his  resurrection,  but  in  a  truer  and 
larger  way  he  preached  the  glad  tidings  of  reconciliation  and  peace 
in  the  person  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  inspired  the  Apostles  and  preach- 
ers of  the  apostolic  age,  especially  Paul,  to  preach  peace.  To  you 
that  were  far  off.  How  it  must  have  touched  these  Gentile  Christians 
that  the  great  Apostle  put  them  first! 

18.  For  through  him  we  both  have  our  access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the 
Father.  This  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  verses  of  the  whole  epistle. 
It  takes  in  the  whole  of  the  Godhead  and  the  whole  race  of  human  kind. 
It  comes  in  here  as  a  confirmation,  from  the  facts  of  their  own  and  his 
experience,  of  his  previous  statements  concerning  the  reuniting  of 
the  race  in  and  by  Jesus  Christ.  Accordingly  the  emphasis  is  on  the 
words  through  him.  For  it  is  through  him,  as  we  all  well  know  by 
experience,  that  we  both,  Jew  and  Gentile,  have  conscious  access  to 
and  communion  with  our  common  Father.  The  Bible  contains  no 
more  striking  expression  of  the  reuniting  of  humanity  and  their  union 
with  God.  To  Paul  the  inclusion  of  the  rest  of  mankind  as  fellow- 
heirs  and  on  the  same  terms  with  the  Jews,  so  that  they  all  were  equal 
sons  of  the  one  Father  and  brothers  of  each  other,  in  one  spirit  of 
loving  fellowship,  —  no  more  difference,  no  more  distinction,  no  more 
division,  —  to  Paul  this  was  the  revelation  of  the  most  precious  secret 
of  God,  the  crowning  achievement  of  his  grace. 

19.  So  then.  These  words  introduce  the  grand  summing  up  that 
Paul  makes  from  the  foregoing  statement  of  the  case  of  Gentile  be- 
lievers —  to  conclude  the  matter,  the  situation  is  this:  ye  are  no  more 
strangers,  foreigners,  as  some  of  the  Gentiles  were,  and  sojourners, 
as  others  of  the  Gentiles  were,  who  had  become  proselytes  to  Judaism. 
But  ye  are  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints.  The  preceding  negative 
statement  is  followed  by  this  positive  statement.  They  were  full 
members  of  the  new  theocracy,  the  greater  Israel.  And  of  the  house- 
hold of  God.  Not  only  citizens  of  the  commonwealth  of  the  new 
Israel,  but  of  the  very  family  of  God. 

20.  Being  built  upon  the  foundation.  The  preceding  word  "  house- 
hold "  suggests  to  him  the  idea  of  a  house,  a  building  with  its  solid 
foundation,  a  favorite  figure  with  Paul.  Of  the  apostles  and  prophets. 
Not  consisting  of  apostles  and  prophets^  but  tb§  foundation  laid  by 

91 


EPHESIANS 


prophets,  ^Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief  corner 

21.  stone;  °in  whom  °^  each  several  building,  °fitly  framed 

22.  together,  °groweth  into  a  holy  ^  temple  °in  the  Lord;  in 

»  Gr.  ^ery  building,  »  Or,  sanctuary 

the  apostles  and  prophets.  The  prophets  here  referred  to  were  not 
those  of  the  old  dispensation,  but  those  of  the  apostolic  day,  as  is 
shown  by  what  he  says  in  3  :  5  and  4:11.  The  distinction  between 
these  two  classes  of  Christian  workers  lay  in  that  the  prophets  were 
primarily  inspired  teachers,  while  the  apostles,  though  probably,  like 
Paul,  having  the  gift  of  prophecy,  could  also  testify  from  personal 
experience  to  having  "seen  the  Lord"  after  his  resurrection,  and  also 
had  the  power  of  conferring  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  and  the  authority 
to  found  and  oversee  churches.  Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief 
corner  stone.  ''Christ,  the  Messiah,  who  had  been  called  by  the  old 
prophets  the  corner  stone;  Jesus  the  human  manifestation  of  the  Christ 
in  time.  He  is  part  of  the  body  which  he  brings  into  being,  for  he  is 
its  head ;  he  is  part  of  the  house  which  he  founds,  for  he  is  its  corner 
stone  (referring  to  Is.  28  :  16).  And  just  because  he  will  speak  of 
Christ  in  the  old  prophet's  terms  as  a  corner  stone,  he  cannot  here 
speak  of  him  as  the  whole  foundation." 

21.  In  whom.  Here  again  is  Paul's  all-controlling  thought  that 
every  part  and  phase  of  the  scheme  of  redemption  has  its  validity  and 
value  only  in  the  fact  that  it  has  Christ  as  its  ground  or  sphere.  Each 
several  building.  Not  the  whole  structure,  but  each  of  the  several 
parts  of  an  extensive  pile  of  building  so  adjusted  as  to  preserve  unity 
of  design  and  structure.  The  reference  is  to  each  separate  local 
congregation  or  Christian  community,  as  that  at  Colossae,  at  Laodicea, 
at  Hierapolis,  at  Ephesus.  This  conception  of  Paul  thus  interpreted 
is  in  keeping  with  the  fact  that  this  letter  was  a  circular  letter  intended 
for,  and  sent  to,  each  of  several  churches  in  Asia  Minor.  Fitly  framed 
together.  This  is  present  participle  and  denotes  a  process  going  on. 
The  idea  is  that  of  fitting  and  adjusting  into  one  complete  whole,  as, 
for  example,  the  different  wings  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  con- 
structed at  different  times,  are  fitly  framed  together  so  as  to  produce 
the  harmonious  totU  ensemble  of  that  imposing  structure.  Groweth 
into  a  holy  temple.  This  must  not  be  construed  so  as  to  mean  that 
"each  several  building"  grows  into  a  separate  temple,  but  that  it 
increases  in  size  and  completeness  so  to  as  form  together  with  the 
others  a  great  whole.  In  the  Lord.  Why  in  the  Lord  instead  of  in 
Christ?  "Where  the  apostle  describes  the  transcendental  relation  of 
believers  to  Christ  as  the  ground  of  their  acceptance  with  God,  he  uses 
the  expression  'in Christ';  whereas,  when  he  is  speaking  of  the  issues 

92 


EPHESIANS 


whom  °ye  also  °are  builded  together  °  ^  for  a  habitation 
of  God  °in  the  Spirit. 

VI.   Paul's   Unique   and    God-ordered   Relation  to 

AND  Part  in  the  Reunion  of  Disunited 

Humanity  in  Christ,  3  :  1-13 

3.       °For  this  cause   °I   Paul,  °the  prisoner  of   Christ 
2.   Jesus  °m   behalf   of  you    Gentiles,  —  °if   so   be   that 

I  Gr.  into. 

of  that  relation  as  manifested  in  life  and  conduct  in  this  world,  he 
uses  the  phrase  'in  the  Lord.'" 

22.  Ye  also.  That  is,  the  congregation  to  whom  this  letter  was 
being  read.  Are  builded  together.  As  one  of  the  several  buildings 
(verse  21)  that  are  growing  together  into  the  temple,  you  are  being 
builded  together  for  a  habitation  of  God.  Rather,  as  the  margin  has, 
into  a  habitation  of  God.  This  is  the  climax  of  the  ascensive  de- 
scription of  the  dignity  to  which  these  Gentiles  had  been  elevated  by 
becoming  believers  in  Christ.  In  the  Spirit.  "  It  is  by  virtue  of  your 
being  in  the  Spirit  as  the  element  of  your  life  that  ye  are  being  builded 
together  for  a  habitation  of  God." 

I.  For  this  cause.  Because  of  the  opening  of  the  way  in  Christ 
Jesus  for  the  inclusion  of  the  whole  Gentile  world,  as  shown  in  the 
preceding  section,  2  :  11-22,  he  is  now  led  to  pray  for  them,  the  loftiest 
and  most  comprehensive  prayer,  with  one  exception,  in  the  Bible 
or  out  of  it.  I  Paul.  This  form  of  speech  is  not  used  to  emphasize 
his  authority  as  an  apostle.  There  is  nothing  in  the  whole  epistle 
to  indicate  that  this  was  necessary.  It  was  rather  to  make  his  readers 
sensible  of  the  personal  interest  that  he  whom  they  knew  as  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  felt  in  them.  Up  to  this  point  he  has  been 
unwontedly,  almost  strangely,  impersonal.  He  has  said  practically 
nothing  of  himself.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  he  was  writing  for 
people  whom  for  the  most  part  he  had  never  seen  and  did  not  per- 
sonally know.  Another  is  that  he  is  writing,  not  about  matters  of  a 
personal  nature,  but  in  exposition  of  the  greater  plan  of  God  which 
through  the  ages  runs.  "  It  is  only  when  he  reaches  a  resting  place  in 
his  thought  that  he  hears,  as  it  were,  the  clink  of  his  chain  and  then 
remembers  where  he  is  and  why  he  is  there."  The  prisoner  of  Christ 
Jesus.  As  if  Paul  would  say,  it  is  not  the  Roman  authority  that  holds 
me  in  captivity  and  in  prison,  it  is  in  reality  Jesus  Christ,  but  for  whom 
I  should  be  free,  as  other  men  are.     In  behalf  of  you  Gentiles.     It  was 

93 


EPHESIANS 


ye  have  heard  °of  the  dispensation  of  that  grace  of 
God  which  was  given  me  °to  you- ward;  °how  that  by 

*  Or,  stewardship 


because  of  his  preaching  salvation  to  the  Gentiles  that  he  was  ar- 
rested and  at  last  landed  in  prison  at  Rome,  Acts  22  :  22 ;  26  :  21-23. 

2.  If  so  be  that  ye  have  heard.  Here  Paul  "goes  off  at  a  word'* 
again,  the  word  "Gentiles,"  into  another  one  of  those  digressions 
which  are  so  common  in  his  epistles.  The  thought  of  his  being  a 
prisoner  in  behalf  of  the  Gentiles  leads  him  aside  to  give  a  fuller 
statement  to  them  of  his?  relation  to  the  gospel  dispensation  and  how 
it  came  about.  This  he  does  in  verses  2-13.  Then  in  verse  14  he 
resumes  what  he  started  out  to  say  and  goes  on  with  his  great  prayer 
for  them.  This  was  profoundly  psychological  and  it  was  profoundly 
Pauline.  Already  he  has  told  how  the  door  was  opened  for  the  ad- 
mission of  the  Gentiles  (2  :  11-22);  but  he  has  said  nothing  about 
what  he  had  to  do  with  it.  Now  is  the  psychological  moment.  And 
with  Paul's  temperament,  how  could  he  help  stopping  here  to  tell  the 
Gentile  Christians,  to  whom  he  is  writing,  of  the  wonder  of  the  revela- 
tion which  God  had  made  to  him  and  of  the  wonderful  grace  of  God 
in  choosing  and  commissioning  him  to  be  the  revealer  and  proclaimer 
of  that  revelation  to  the  world.  Though  he  started  out  to  tell  them 
how  he  prayed  for  them  (verses  14-19),  he  cannot  and  will  not  resist 
the  temptation  to  linger  long  enough  to  explain  to  them  why  he  prays 
for  them  and  indeed  to  tell  them  all  about  it.  The  thought  o:^  God's 
grace  in  conferring  on  him  this  privilege  and  honor  always  fires  his 
heart.  If  so  be  that  ye  have  heard.  This  is  a  modest  way  of  intro- 
ducing the  subject,  but  it  makes  it  impossible  to  hold  that  this  epistle 
was  intended  for,  and  sent  to  the  Ephesians  alone.  Would  he,  could 
he,  write  thus  to  a  church  which  he  himself  had  founded  (Acts  18  :  19; 
19  :  8,  10),  and  whose  pastor  he  had  been  for  "the  space  of  three 
years"  (Acts  20:31)?  Of  the  dispensation  =  stewardship.  The 
word,  for  example,  is  used  in  Lk.  16  :  2,  3,  4  of  oversight  and  admin- 
istration of  property;  here  it  is  the  trusteeship  and  administration  of 
grace  committed  to  Paul  for  the  Gentiles.  To  you-ward.  Though  it 
was  given  to  Paul,  it  was  not  for  Paul.  It  was  for  them,  so  Paul  con- 
sidered himself  a  debtor  (as  he  says  in  so  many  words  in  Rom.  i  :  14), 
not  because  of  what  he  had  received/row  the  Gentiles,  but  because  of 
what  he  had  received /or  the  Gentiles. 

3.  How  that  by  revelation.  If  they  had  not  yet  heard,  Paul  wants 
them  to  know  and  will  now  tell  them  that  it  was  not  by  any  inter- 
mediate or  roundabout  way  that  the  secret  purpose  of  God  was  made 
known  to  him,  but  by  direct  revelation.     He  had  said  the  same  thing 

94 


EPHESIANS 


revelation  was  made  known  unto  me   °the  mystery, 

4.  °as  I  wrote  afore  in  few  words,  °whereby,  when  ye 
read,  ye  can  perceive  my  understanding  in  the  mystery 

5.  of  Christ;  ° which  in  other  generations  was  not  made 
known  unto  the  sons  of  men,  °as  it  hath  now  been  re- 
vealed  °unto   his   holy  apostles  and  prophets  in  the 

6.  Spirit;    °to  witj    °that   the    Gentiles   are    fellow-heirs, 


in  Gal.  i  :  16  and  Gal.  1:1.  The  mystery.  The  till  then  unrevealed 
secret  of  God.  The  words  mystery  and  revelation  are  frequently 
used  by  Paul  correlatively,  as  here.  As  I  wrote  afore  in  few  words  = 
as  I  have  already  told  you  briefly.  This  does  not  refer  to  another 
epistle,  but  to  what  he  said  in  the  preceding  part  of  this  epistle,  namely, 
2  :  11-22. 

4.  Whereby.  In  the  reading  of  which  you  will  be  able  to  under- 
stand the  knowledge  which  I  have.  He  has  not  given  a  full  exposi- 
tion of  it,  but  enough  to  enable  them  to  see  that  he  has  a  special  knowl- 
edge of  the  secret  of  Christ  and  therefore  special  authority  to  write  of 
it.    Out  of  modesty  he  says  knowledge  in  the  mystery  of  Christ. 

5.  Which  in  other  generations  was  not  made  known  unto  the  sons 
of  men.  What  that  mystery  or  secret  is,  is  expressly  stated  in  the 
next  verse;  and  up  to  the  time  of  Paul  it  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
practically  unknown  to  men.  As  it  hath  now  been  revealed.  As 
said  before,  the  words  mystery  and  revelation  are  constant  correl- 
atives in  this  and  the  companion  epistle  to  the  Colossians.  The 
as  here  is  comparative.  The  mystery  had  not  been  made  known 
with  the  fulness  and  clearness  that  it  has  now  been  revealed.  The 
ultimate  inclusion  of  the  Gentiles  was  made  known  in  a  way  to  the 
ancients.  Even  to  Abraham  it  was  said,  "In  thy  seed  shall  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  So  also  with  greater  clearness  in 
several  of  the  prophets,  particularly  Isaiah,  chaps.  40-66.  Unto  his 
holy  apostles  and  prophets.  The  prophets  of  Paul's  day  are  meant, 
as  in  4  :  11.  It  was  first  fully  revealed  to  Paul.  Others  were  slow  to 
accept  it,  but  afterwards  did  accept  it,  Acts  15  and  Gal.  2  :  2-10. 
Some  have  gone  as  far  as  to  say  that  Paul  could  never  have  called  the 
apostles  holy,  as  he  was  one  of  them,  and  therefore  he  did  not  write 
this  epistle.  Holy  is  the  word  that  has  been  several  times  used  in 
this  epistle  and  translated  saints,  meaning  God's  people,  set  apart 
for  him.  "Not  their  holiness  but  God's  hallowing  was  in  question.'* 
In  verse  8  Paul  classes  himself  among  the  saints  or  holy  ones,  but  it  is 
not  inconsistent  with  modesty,  with  even  humility,  there,  for  he  calls 
himself  less  than  the  least  of  them. 

6.  To  wit.     He  here  gives  a  clear,  full,  explicit  statement  of  what 

95 


3:7  EPHESIANS 


°and  fellow-members  of  the  body,  °and  fellow-partakers 
of  the  promise  °in  Christ  Jesus  ^through  the  gospel, 
^whereof  I  was  made  a  minister,  ^according  to  the  gift  of 
that  grace  of  God  ° which  was  given  me  according  to  the 
working  of  his  power.     °Unto  me,  °who  am  less  than 


the  mystery  or  secret  is  about  which  he  has  so  much  to  say.  That 
the  Gentiles  are  fellow-heirs.  Joint  possessors  with  the  Jews  of  the 
inheritance  of  God's  people.  What  a  startling  statement!  What  a 
revolutionary  revelation!  And  fellow-members  of  the  body.  The 
Gentiles  are  incorporated  with  the  Jews  into  the  body  of  which  Christ 
is  the  head,  and  so  they  are  concorporate  with  them.  This  Latin 
compound  is  the  exact  equivalent,  in  formation  and  meaning,  of  the 
Greek  word  which  Paul  here  uses.  And  fellow-partakers  of  the 
promise.  Joint  partakers  of  that  which  was  promised  —  salvation 
through  Christ.  The  word  promise  is  here  used  of  the  thing 
promised,  as  the  word  hope  is  often  used  for  the  thing  hoped  for. 
In  Christ  Jesus.  By  virtue  of  being  brought  into  union  with  Christ 
Jesus,  where  alone  salvation  can  be  found,  whether  by  Jew  or  Gentile, 
the  Gentiles  are  coheirs,  concorporate,  copartakers,  with  the  Jews; 
all  are  on  an  absolute  equality,  there  is  no  longer  any  distinction 
whatsoever.  Through  the  gospel.  By  means  of  which  they  are 
brought  into  union  with  Christ.  Verse  6,  together  with  the  whole 
tone  and  complexion  of  the  epistle,  is  a  plain  note  of  Paul's  authorship. 
It  claims  for  the  Gentiles  an  equahty  and  union  with  the  Jews  in  entire 
harmony  with  Paul's  position  as  shown  in  Romans  and  Galatians, 
but  inconceivable  in  the  second  century  when  the  Gentiles  had  at- 
tained not  only  a  recognized  position  but  a  predominance  in  the  church. 

7.  Whereof  I  was  made  a  minister.  That  is,  of  the  gospel,  as  in 
Col.  I  :  23,  24,  a  closely  parallel  passage.  He  not  only  had  the  reve- 
lation of  the  secret  that  the  Gentiles  were  included  equally  with  the 
Jews,  he  was  authoritatively  made  a  minister  of  the  gospel  by  the 
preaching  of  which  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  brought  in,  and  actually 
had  been  brought  in.  According  to  the  gift  of  that  grace  of  God.  As 
he  did  not  take  this  office  or  honor  unto  himself,  but  was  appointed 
thereto  by  God,  so  he  was  not  made  a  minister  in  consideration  of  his 
worthiness  or  merit,  but  only  by  the  bestowment  of  God's  grace. 
Which  was  given  me  according  to  the  working  of  his  power.  This  is  a 
description  of  the  form  in  which  this  grace  manifested  or  expressed 
itself  in  him.  It  was  in  the  form  of  energetic  effectual  inworking  of 
power,  God's  power. 

8.  Unto  me.  Here  he  breaks  in  with  an  outburst  of  great  emo- 
tional depth  and  fervor  (cf.  Rom.  7  :  25),  lest  while  glorifying  his 

96 


EPHESIANS 


the  least  of  all  saints,  °was  this  grace  given,  °to  preach 
unto  the  Gentiles  the  ^unsearchable  riches  of  Christ; 
9.  °and  to  ^  make  all  men  see  what  is  the  ^  dispensation 
of  the  mystery  °which  from  all  ages  hath  been  hid  in 
10.  God  °who  created  all  things;  °to  the  intent  that 
°now  °unto  the  principalities  and  the  powers  in  the 

»  Some  ancient  authorities  read  bring  to  light  what  is.        '  Or,  stewardship 

ministry  he  should  seem  to  be  glorifying  himself.  The  pronoun  has 
double  emphasis;  it  is  the  emphatic  form  and  it  stands  j&rst.  Who 
am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints.  Paul  here  makes  a  new  compara- 
tive out  of  an  existing  superlative.  The  word  in  English  would  be 
leaster.  Compare  the  English  lesser  and  chief  est.  "Never  did  a 
man  more  stoutly  press  his  claims;  never  was  a  man  more  conscious 
of  personal  unworthiness."  Was  this  grace  given.  Note  how  often 
he  uses  the  word  grace  or  words  of  similar  import,  in  all  con- 
nections. To  preach  unto  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.  A  definition  of  what  the  grace  consisted  in.  Unsearch- 
able riches.  These  words  are  but  the  reflection  of  Paul's  own 
experience  of  what  Christ  had  been  to  him  for  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century.  While  Christ  continually  satisfies  the  human  heart, 
otherwise  insatiable,  he  continually  creates  new  hunger  and  new 
capacity  for  himself,  and  so  there  is  no  exhausting  of  him. 

9.  And  to  make  all  men  see.  The  reading  of  the  margin  is  better 
attested  and  is  intrinsically  much  preferable  to  that  of  the  text.  Thus 
it  would  be,  and  to  bring  to  light,  to  bring  forth  from  hiding,  to  make 
clear  what  is  the  meaning  of  that  method  of  administration  by  which 
God  has  carried  out  his  secret  purpose.  Which  from  all  ages  hath 
been  hid  in  God.  That  is,  from  all  eternity  has  been  known  only  to 
God,  implying  that  not  even  angels  knew  the  secret.  No  wonder 
Paul  is  overwhelmed  with  the  favor  that  was  shown  him  of  being 
thus  taken  into  the  secret  counsels  of  God!  Who  created  all  things. 
These  words  link  together  God's  unrevealed  purpose  of  universal 
redemption  through  Christ  with  the  creation  of  the  universe,  and  at 
least  suggest  that  the  world  was  created  with  reference  to  the  realiza- 
tion of  that  purpose.  This  is  elsewhere  clearly  intimated  by  Paul, 
as  in  I  :  4;   Col.  i  :  16,  17. 

10.  To  the  intent  that  .  .  .  might  be  made  known.  This  is  stated 
as  the  object  of  the  bringing  to  light  of  the  preceding  verse.  Now. 
After  so  many  ages  of  hiding.  Unto  the  principalities  and  the  powers. 
What  God  does  in  execution  of  his  eternal  purpose  for  humanity  is 
to  be  a  demonstration  to  the  beings  of  the  heavenly  sphere  as  well  as 

H  97 


3  :  II  EPHESIANS 


heavenly  places  might  be  made  known  ^through  the 

11.  church  °the  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  ^according  to 
the  ^  eternal  purpose  °which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus 

12.  our  Lord:    °in  whom  we  have  boldness  and  access  in 

13.  confidence  through  ^  our  faith  in  him.  ° Wherefore  I 
ask  °that  ^ye  faint  not  at  my  tribulations  for  you, 
which  °  *  are  your  glory. 

»  Gr.  purpose  of  the  ages.        «  Or,  the  faith  of  him        3  Or,  I        •♦  Or.  is 

to  men  of  the  wisdom  of  God.  Peter  in  his  first  epistle  represents 
angels  as  intently  studying  the  meaning  of  the  gospel  and  the  plan  of 
redemption  (i  Pt.  i  :  12).  Through  the  church.  The  church,  the 
body  of  redeemed  men,  is  the  visible  materialization,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  eternal  purpose  of  God  which  till  now  has  been  eternally  hidden 
in  himself.  Perhaps  Paul  means  that  the  manifestation  and  realiza- 
tion of  the  purpose  of  God  in  the  body  of  redeemed  humanity,  the 
church,  furnishes  the  justification  of  creation  and  the  vindication  of 
God's  wisdom  in  creation  and  redemption,  which  till  now  was  want- 
ing —  a  philosophy  of  history.  The  manifold  wisdom.  Practically 
the  same  as  Paul's  expression  in  Rom.  11  :  2,Z' 

11.  According  to  the  eternal  purpose.  To  be  taken  with  might 
he  made  known  in  verse  10.  Which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Rather,  which  he  executed  or  accomplished  in  Christ,  since  what  follows 
refers,  not  to  the  forming  of  the  purpose,  but  to  its  being  carried  into 
effect. 

12.  In  whom  we  have  boldness  and  access.  This  is  the  proof  from 
their  inward  actual  experience  of  the  preceding  declaration  that  God 
did,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  carry  into  execution  his  eternal  purpose  in 
Christ  Jesus.  For  it  is  by  virtue  of  our  union  with  him  that  we  have 
the  boldness  which  we,  as  Christians,  have  and  the  access  to  God 
which  we  have  experienced  by  reason  of  our  confidence,  the  feeling 
of  confidence  that  is  brought  about  as  a  result  of  the  faith  that  we  have 
exercised  in  him.  Practically  the  same  thought  as  in  Rom.  5  :  2. 
Compare  also  Heb.  10  :  19,  22. 

13.  Wherefore  =  on  account  of  what  he  has  said  in  verses  2-12 
concerning  his  relation  to  the  gospel  and  the  grace  which  bestowed 
such  honor  and  happiness  on  him.  That  ye  faint  not  at  my  tribu- 
lations for  you.  They  might  be  tempted  to  feel  grieved,  humiliated, 
disheartened,  that  they  were  the  cause  of  the  tribulations  which  he 
was  forced  to  undergo.  But  "no,"  he  answers,  "do  not  feel  so,  for 
these  very  tribulations  are  your  glory,  as  they  are  a  source  of  joy  to 
me."     (So  he  says  in  Col.  i  :  24;  Phil.  2  :  17,  18;    2  Cor.  12  :  10). 

98 


EPHESIANS  3  :  i6 


VII.   Paul's  Lofty  Prayer  and  Prophetic  Doxology 
FOR  Them,  3  :  14-21 

14.  °For  this  cause  °I  bow  my  knees  ^'unto  the  Father, 

15.  °from  whom  every  ^family  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is 

16.  named,   °that  he  would  grant  you,  according  to  the 
riches  of  his  glory,  °that  ye  may  be  strengthened  °with 

*  Gr.  fatherhood. 

They  were  their  glory  in  that  they  were  a  testimony  to  the  value  set 
upon  them  by  him  who  suffered  and  by  him  who  appointed  him  to 
suffer  in  their  behalf. 

14.  For  this  cause.  These  words  return  to  verse  i  and  take  up 
what  he  had  there  begun  to  say  when  he  was  led  away  by  the  word 
"Gentiles"  into  the  splendid  digression  of  verses  2-13.  This  phrase, 
then,  is  the  connecting  link  between  his  statement  (in  2  :  11-22)  of 
the  former  and  the  present  condition  of  his  Gentile  readers  and  the 
prayer  which  he  now  utters  for  them.  Knowing,  as  he  did,  their 
former  and  their  present  condition,  he  knows  also  how  to  pray  for 
them  and  therefore  does  pray  for  them,  thus :  I  bow  my  knees.  I 
prostrate  myself  in  prayer,  an  unusual  form  expressing  great  earnest- 
ness and  intensity.  Unto  the  Father.  Used  here  qualitatively  in  the 
absolute  sense. 

15.  From  whom  every  family.  The  margin  renders  this  word 
"fatherhood."  This  preserves  the  play  on  the  words  which  cannot 
be  otherwise  reproduced  in  English.  It  may  be  roughly  imitated 
in  the  rendering,  "from  whom  all  fatherhood  is  named."  God  is 
the  prototype  of  fatherhood,  whether  in  heaven  or  on  earth.  It  is  to 
him  as  Father,  as  Father  of  fathers,  as  Fountain  of  fatherhood  and 
all  fatherliness,  that  Paul  prays  in  their  behalf  who  are  his  children. 

16.  That  he  would  grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory. 
In  the  prayer  in  Chap,  i  :  17  ff.  is  the  expression,  "Father  of  glory," 
and  Paul  evidently  here  amplifies  the  content  of  it  into  a  fuller  form. 
What  was  implicit  there  he  makes  explicit  here.  Paul  is  praying  to 
him  who  is  his  Father  in  behalf  of  others  who  are  children  of  the  same 
Father;  and  the  measure  according  to  which  he  asks  him  to  give  is 
the  wealth  of  that  divine  Father's  glory  —  whatever  that  may  be 
(cf.  Rom.  9  :  23).  That  ye  may  be  strengthened.  Here  begins  the 
enumeration  of  what  he  asks  for  them.  The  first  thing  he  asks  for  is 
strengthening.  With  power  through  his  Spirit.  They  were  to  be 
strengthened  by  means  of  power  infused  into  them  through  the 

99 


3  ;  17  EPHESIANS 


17.  power  through  his  Spirit  °iii  the  inward  man;  °that 
Christ  °may  dwell  °in  your  hearts  ""through  faith; 
°to  the  end  that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  °in  love, 


Spirit  of  God.  In  the  inward  man.  This  is  one  of  those  indefinite 
phrases  of  Pau  1  which  e  ven  the  ordinary  reader  knows  the  general  mean- 
ing of,  but  which  even  the  extraordinary  reader  cannot  accurately 
define.     Perhaps  it  refers  more  to  the  will  than  any  other  one  thing. 

17.  That  Christ  may  dweU.  Is  this  clause  subordinate  to  the  pre- 
ceding clause,  expressing  its  purpose  or  result,  and  meaning  "  in  order 
that  Christ  may  dwell"?  Or  is  it  coordinate  with  the  preceding 
clause?  And  if  it  is  coordinate,  has  it  the  same  meaning  as  that 
clause,  though  expressed  in  a  different  way  ?  Or  does  it  add  something 
further  and  something  different?  The  last  is  probably  the  correct 
view  (though  all  three  are  grammatically  possible,  and  each  one  is 
held  by  some  interpreters)  ==  "  that  he  may  grant  you  also  that  Christ 
may  dwell  in  your  hearts."  May  dwell  in  your  hearts.  This  fur- 
nishes a  good  instance  of  what  has  been  said,  that  the  great  things 
written  in  this  great  epistle  are  the  reflex  of  experiences  which  the  writer 
himself  had  had.  In  Gal.  2  :  20  he  says,  "Christ  liveth  in  me."  No 
one  can  understand  Paul  or  interpret  Paul  who  has  not  had  in  some 
measure  at  least  the  experiences  which  he  had  had.  Hence  so  many 
scholars  repudiate  him  to-day.  In  your  hearts.  Practically  equiva- 
lent to  "the  inward  man"  in  the  preceding  verse.  Compare  Col.  2  :  27, 
*'Christ  in  you."  Through  faith.  This  also  is  a  reflex  of  Paul's 
experience,  as  further  given  in  Gal.  2  :  20.  As  Christ  first  enters  the 
heart  on  condition  and  by  means  of  faith,  just  as  truly  does  he  dwell 
there  on  condition  of  faith  consciously  and  continuously  exercised  in 
him.  In  love.  Some  commentators  construe  these  words  with  what 
precedes  them,  with  this  sense,  namely,  that  Christ  through  faith 
may  dwell  in  your  hearts  in  love  =  it  is  in  love  that  the  indwelling  of 
Christ  is  manifested.  But  really  this  thought  is  included  in  the 
other  construction,  which  is  followed  in  the  text,  thus:  In  order  that 
ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love  as  a  consequence  of  the  indwell- 
ing of  Christ,  may  be  strong,  etc.  Note  the  combination  of  figures 
in  rooted  a-nd  founded ;  so  in  Col.  2  :  7. 

18.  To  the  end  that  ye  .  .  .  may  be  strong  to  apprehend.  The 
object  of  their  being  inwardly  strengthened  by  means  of  power  infused 
through  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  Paul  prays  for,  and  of  Christ's  dwell- 
ing in  their  hearts,  which  he  prays  for,  is  that  they  may  be  quite  able, 
have  full  capacity,  to  understand.  As  has  been  pointed  out,  this 
prayer  of  Paul  is  a  fuller  expression  of  the  prayer  in  chap,  i  :  17-21. 
There  is  a  close  parallel  between  both  the  substance  and  the  language. 
In  each  case  the  prayer  is  directed  to  the  Father  (1:17;  3:14)  with  a 

100 


EPHESIANS  >,   .    ,.  3:19 


18.  may  be  strong  to  apprehend  °with  all  the  saints  °what 

19.  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  height  and  depth,  °and 
to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge, 
°that  ye  may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fulness  of  God. 


reference  to  his  "glory '*  (i  :  17;  3  :  16).  In  each  case  the  prayer  is 
for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (i  :  17;  3  :  16).  The  sphere  of  the 
action  of  the  Spirit  in  each  case  is  the  heart  or  the  inward  man  (i  :  18; 
3  :  16).  And  the  ultimate  aim  of  all  is  the  knowledge  of  the  fulness 
of  the  divine  purpose  and  the  divine  love  (i  :  18  f.;  3  :  18  f.).  "The 
prayer  to  know  the  mighty  power  (in  i  :  19)  becomes  the  prayer  to 
have  the  mighty  power  in  order  to  be  strong  enough  to  know  (3  :  19)." 
With  all  the  saints.  That  ye  may  share  with  all  the  saints  the  knowl- 
edge which  it  is  God's  will  for  them  to  have.  What  is  the  breadth 
and  length  and  height  and  depth.  As  **  a  parable  must  not  be  made  to 
walk  on  all  fours,"  so  neither  must  this  bold  figure  of  Paul,  however 
much  it  may  lend  itself  to  that  sort  of  interpretation.  It  is  a  vague 
expression  for  vastness,  immensity.  It  is  similar  in  Rom.  8  :  39, 
where  Paul  speaks  of  "  nor  height,  nor  depth." 

19.  And  to  know.  Does  this  add  a  new  thought  or  is  it  another 
and  parallel  expression  of  that  which  immediately  precedes?  Paul 
seems  almost  to  get  lost  in  the  vastness  of  his  conceptions  and  the 
vagueness  of  his  constructions  in  this  great  prayer.  At  any  rate  we 
get  lost.  No  exposition  has  been  given  that  does  not  leave  the  prayer 
unexplained  and  the  reader  unsatisfied.  It  is  probable,  though  it  is 
not  certain,  that  the  clause  and  to  know  is  not  parallel  to  the  preceding, 
thus :  That  ye  may  be  strong  to  apprehend  the  breadth  and  length  and 
height  and  depth  of  the  love  of  Christ  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ. 
This  is  an  anticlimax,  so  it  must  be  something  else  the  breadth  and 
length  and  height  and  depth  of  which  Paul  wants  them  to  apprehend. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  what.  It  may  be  God's  eternal  purpose,  or  the 
secret  of  his  will,  or,  as  is  expressed  in  chap,  i  :  18,  the  hope  of  his 
calling,  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints,  the 
exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  for  believers.  Or  it  may  be,  in- 
definitely, the  magnitude,  in  all  its  relations,  of  God's  redemptive 
scheme  in  Christ.  And  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth 
knowledge  =  and,  especially,  to  know  the  love  of  Christ,  though  it  is 
in  a  sense  a  knowledge-surpassing  love:  strictly,  it  can  never  be 
known.  That  ye  may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fulness  of  God.  So  that, 
after  all,  even  knowledge  is  not  the  absolutely  ultimate  end.  It  is 
1  means  to  the  end,  namely,  that  ye  may  be  filled  up  to  all  the  fulness 
of  God,  that  is,  up  to  the  limit  of  all  the  fulness  that  God  can  give. 
Compare  "increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God"  in  Col.  2  :  19.  See 
also  Eph.  4  ;  13. 

lOI 


3:20  ...      -  EPHESIANS 


20.  Now  unto  °him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  ^according  to  the  power 

21.  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  him  %e  the  glory  in  the  church 
and  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  ^  all  generations  for  ever  and 
ever.     Amen. 

VIII.  The   Motives   and   the    God-provided   Means 
FOR  Realizing  this  Ideal  Unity,  4  :  1-16 


4.       ®I  therefore,  the  prisoner  in  the  Lord,  °beseech  you 
°to  walk  worthily  of  the  calling  wherewith  ye  were 

»  Gr.  all  the  generations  of  the  age  of  the  ages. 

Confidence  in  God  who  can  do  far  more  than  the  prayer  has 
asked  draws  from  the  heart  of  Paul  a  full  and  fervent  outburst  of 
praise,  a  lofty  doxology. 

20.  Him  that  is  able.  God  is  able  to  do  more  than  we  ask,  more 
than  our  imagination  can  conceive.  According  to  the  power  that 
worketh  in  us.  Paul  judged  of  what  God  could  do  by  what  he  had 
already  done  in  and  for  them.  "  It  is  the  conscious  experience  of  the 
present  working  of  the  divine  power  that  fills  him  with  this  exultant 
confidence." 

21.  Be  the  glory  in  the  church  and  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  church  is 
that  by  whose  greatness  and  glory  the  glory  of  God  is  demonstrated, 
even  as  it  is  also  in  Christ  Jesus  himself.  Indeed,  the  church  is  the 
organ  through  which  Christ  operates  among  men,  as  it  is  the  scene 
where  this  glory  of  God  is  (or  ought  to  be)  most  truly  displayed  among 
men. 

Paul,  having  expounded  the  great  spiritual  truths  that  were  "in- 
dicated," as  the  doctors  say,  by  the  situation  and  needs  of  his  readers, 
now  proceeds  to  give  them  practical  directions  as  to  how  they  are  to 
live  and  act.  And  he  here  uses  the  three  identical  words  that  he  used 
in  introducing  the  practical  section  of  Romans  (12  :  i). 

I.  I  therefore.  In  view  of  the  glorious  provision  made  by  God 
for  you  and  the  grace  actually  bestowed  by  God  upon  you,  as  I  have 
shown  you.  I,  the  prisoner  in  the  Lord.  The  pronoun  is  emphatic 
and  gathers  up  all  that  he  has  said  about  his  unique  relation  to  the 
revelation  of  Christ.  The  additional  words,  "the  prisoner  in  the 
Lord,"  add  a  touch  of  feeling  and  increase  the  force  of  his  appeal. 
See  Col.  4  :  18,  "  Remember  my  bonds."  Beseech.  The  word  here 
means  "entreat,"  "plead  with."     To  walk  worthily  of  the  calling  = 

102 


p 


EPHESIANS 


2.  called,  °with  all  lowliness  °and  meekness,  °with  long- 

3.  suffering,  ^forbearing  one   another   °in   love;    ^giving 
diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  ^in  the  bond  of 

4.  peace.     ^  There  is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit,  °even  as 

5.  also  ye  were  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling;    °one 


make  your  life  worthy  of  your  vocation.      You  have  been  called  up 
and  apart  into  a  new  order.     Live  worthily  of  it  —  noblesse  oblige. 

2.  With  all  lowliness.  This  is  the  initial  and,  throughout,  the 
fundamental  disposition  in  the  Christian  character.  It  is  put  at  the 
beginning  and  at  the  bottom  in  the  Master's  exposition  of  what  true 
righteousness  is  —  poor  in  spirit.  It  is  radically  the  same  as  the 
word  which  Jesus  uses  to  describe  his  own  disposition,  namely,  /  am 
lowly  in  heart  (Mt.  11  :  29).  In  short,  it  is  humility.  And  meekness. 
This  is  the  basis  of  one  of  the  beatitudes  also,  as  it  is  another  of  the 
two  fundamental  traits  of  Jesus  himself  —  meek  and  lowly  in  heart. 
But  see  especially  Jn.  13  :  3-5  and  Phil.  2:3,  5,  8.  With  long- 
suffering.  This  is  the  disposition  that  bears  with  patience  the  failings 
or  the  wrongs  of  others  and  is  the  opposite  of  revenge  or  resentment. 
Forbearing  one  another.  This  is  the  active  expression  of  the  inward 
disposition  of  longsuffering.  In  love.  "Love  suffereth  long,"  i  Cor. 
13:4.  It  is  the  ground  of  all  right  dispositions  and  all  right  conduct 
as  regards  our  fellow-men.  For  love  does  no  wrong  to  his  neighbor, 
Rom.  13  :  10  and  i  Cor.  13  :  4-8.  The  parallel  passage  in  Colossians 
is  very  striking  (Col.  3  :  12).     See  note  there. 

3.  Giving  diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit.  Not  merely 
endeavoring,  as  the  A.  V.  has  it,  but  making  it  a  matter  of  special  study 
of  effort  and  eagerness.  Here  Paul  reaches  what  has  been  called  the 
dominant  note  of  this  great  epistle  —  unity  —  though  he  has  touched 
upon  it  in  previous  parts,  as  in  2  :  18,  '*  We  both  have  access  in  one 
Spirit  unto  the  Father.'*  The  unity  of  the  Spirit  is  the  unity  of  spirit 
and  aim  and  disposition  brought  about  by  the  indwelling  and  ruling 
of  the  one  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  In  the  bond  of  peace.  Manifesting 
itself  in  peace,  the  uniting  bond. 

4.  There  is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit.  Practically  equivalent  to, 
For  there  is  one  body  just  as  there  is  one  Spirit,  and  surely  that  im- 
poses the  obligation  of  practical,  realized  unity.  The  body,  of  course, 
is  the  church,  which  is  the  body  of  true  believers.  The  Spirit  is  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Even  as  also  ye  were  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling. 
It  is  one  body,  vitalized  and  unified  by  one  Spirit  and  looking  to  the 
goal  of  one  hope.  Here  is  the  first  group  of  three  unities,  the  first 
trinity  of  unities. 

5.  One  I/ord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.     Here  is  the  second  group  of 

1^3 


EPHESIANS 


6.  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  °one  God  and  Father  of 

7.  all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  all.     °But 
°unto  each  one  of  us  was  the  grace  given  according  to 

8.  the  measure  of  the  gift  of  Christ.     ° Wherefore  he  saith, 

When  he  ascended  on  high,  he  led  captivity  captive. 
And  gave  gifts  unto  men. 

9.  (Now  this.  He  ascended,  what  is  it  but  that  he  also 
10.  descended  ^  into  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth  ?    He  that 

descended  is  the  same  also  that  ascended  far  above  all 

»  Some  ancient  authorities  insert  first. 

three  unities,  the  second  trinity  of  unities.  The  one  body  is  depend- 
ent on  the  one  Lord,  who  is  its  head,  to  whom  it  is  united  by  one  faith 
(in  Christ)  and  one  baptism  (into  Christ). 

6.  One  God  and  Father  of  all.  He  rises  to  find  the  ultimate  source 
of  all  unity  in  the  one  God  and  Father,  the  all-encompassing  Unity 
who  is  transcendent  over  all,  active  through  all,  and  immanent  in  all. 
The  first  group  of  unities  brings  to  view  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the  second, 
the  Lord  Christ ;  the  third,  God,  the  Father. 

7.  But.  Notwithstanding  the  inward  vital  unity  of  the  whole,  as 
just  stated,  we  must  now  consider  each  one  in  his  individuality  when 
it  comes  to  the  matter  of  their  functions  and  duties  in  life.  Unto 
each  one  of  us  was  the  grace  given.  To  each  individual  believer  the 
same  grace  has  been  given,  but  not  to  each  in  the  same  measure. 
Christ  gives  it  in  different  measures.  This  is  quite  Pauline  and  is 
strikingly  paralleled  in  Rom.  la  :  6  ff.,  "Having  gifts  differing  ac- 
cording to  the  grace  given  us." 

8.  Wherefore  he  saith.  The  bestowment  of  the  various  gifts  by 
Christ  reminds  him  of  the  passage  in  Psalm  68  :  18  which  describes 
the  victorious  king  of  Zion  returning  from  battle  and  ascending  the 
heights  of  the  citadel  with  the  spoils,  from  which  he  bestows  gifts  on 
the  people.  "Paul  in  quoting  this  Psalm  was  probably  guided  by 
an  old  Jewish  interpretation  of  it  with  which  he  was  familiar" 
(Driver). 

9.  As  Paul  has  mentioned  the  ascension  of  Christ,  he  will  stop  long 
enough  by  way  of  parenthesis  to  show  that  Christ  has  explored  every 
part  of  the  universe  and  fills  the  whole.  His  ascent  at  once  implies 
a  previous  descent  into  the  deepest  depths  and  a  rising  to  the  highest 
heights.  He  descended  to  a  depth  below  which  there  was  no  deeper, 
and  he  ascended  to  a  height  above  which  there  was  no  higher  —  this 
seems  to  be  the  thought  of  Paul;  and  the  following  words  seem  in 

104 


EPHESIANS  4  :  13 


11.  the  heavens,  °that  he  might  fill  all  things.) ,   And  he  gave 
some  to  he  °apostles;  and  some,  ^prophets;  and  some, 

12.  ^evangelists ;  and  some,  ^pastors  and  teachers;  °for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  unto  the  work  of  ministering, 

13.  °unto  the  building  up  of  the  body  of  Christ:  °till  we  all 
attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge 


keeping  with  this  view,  namely,  that  he  might  fill  all  things.    Compare 

1  :23. 

11.  Paul  now  resumes  after  having  introduced  the  parenthetical 
thought  suggested  by  his  reference  to  the  ascension  of  Christ.  He 
proceeds  now  to  enumerate  the  "gifts"  which  the  Ascended  Con- 
queror "gave  to  men"  —  apostles,  prophets,  evangelists,  pastors, 
and  teachers.  Apostles  were  those  who  had  seen  Christ  (i  Cor.  9:1,2), 
were  witnesses  of  his  resurrection  (Acts  i  :  8,  21-23),  ^^^  ^  commission 
from  Christ  himself,  and  had  an  unrestricted  field  of  activity.  Proph- 
ets were  preachers  who  spoke  under  the  impulse  and  inspiration  of  the 
Spirit  and  were  not  mere  interpreters  of  what  others  had  said.  Evan- 
gelists were  travelling  missionaries,  subordinate  to  the  apostles,  and 
went  about  preaching  to  the  heathen  under  their  authority  and 
direction.  Pastors  and  teachers.  Two  designations  of  the  same  class. 
They  took  care  of  the  flock  as  shepherds  and  they  taught  them  also. 
They  were  local  and  not  itinerant  as  were  the  other  three  classes. 
They  probably  include  bishops,  elders,  and  deacons. 

12.  For  the  perfecting  of  the  saints  unto  the  work  of  ministering. 
This  states  the  purpose  for  which  the  ascended  Christ  gave  apostles, 
prophets,  evangelists,  pastors  and  teachers.  They  were  not  only 
to  serve  themselves,  but  they  were  to  equip  and  perfect  every  one  of 
the  body  of  believers  for  the  work  of  serving.  Unto  the  work  of  min- 
istering is  thus  dependent  on  the  preceding  clause,  and  not  coordinate 
with  it  as  the  comma  in  the  text  of  the  R.  V.  implies.  Unto  the  building 
up  of  the  body  of  Christ.  This  is  the  object  of  all  the  processes  pre- 
viously described.  It  is  to  build  up  the  church.  Note  here  again 
the  combination  of  different  figures.     Here  the  body  is  built  up,  in 

2  :  21  the  building  groivs. 

13.  Till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith.  This  is  the  goal 
they  are  to  aim  at  and  strive  for  till  it  is  reached,  namely,  that  faith 
in  and  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God  may  be  one  and  the  same  in  all, 
and  no  longer  varying  according  to  the  influence  of  different  teachers. 
The  previously  described  processes  are  to  go  on  until  they  shall  all 
come  to  a  full,  accurate,  and  thorough  knowledge  of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of 
God  and  have  faith  in  him  accordingly;  or  rather,  till  they  all  come 
to  ha.ve  faith  in  him  as  the  Son  of  God  which  will  ripen  into  and  result 

105 


4  :  14  EPHESIANS 


of  the  °Son  of  God,  °unto  a  full-grown  man,  °unto  the 

14.  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ:  °that 
we  may  be  no  longer  children,  ^tossed  to  and  fro  and 
carried  about  °with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  °by  the 
sleight  of  men,  °in  craftiness,  "^after  the  wiles  of  error; 

15.  °but  ^  speaking  truth  in  love,   °may  grow  up  in  all 

16.  things  into  him,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ;  °from 
whom  all  the    body  fitly  framed   and    knit  together 

»  Or,  dealing  truly 


in  a  full,  accurate,  and  thorough  knowledge  of  him  as  the  Son  of  God, 
for  faith  is  the  condition  of  knowledge.  Unto  a  full-grown  man.  This  is 
parallel  and  a  sort  of  apposition  to  the  preceding.  It  is  the  same  as 
attaining  oneness  in  faith  in  and  knowledge  of  Christ  as  the  Son  of 
God.  Unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ.  This 
is  only  another  way  of  viewing  and  expressing  the  same  thing  as  "unto 
a  full-grown  man,"  as  that  was  another  way  of  expressing  what 
immediately  preceded  it.  "To  the  full  measure  of  the  complete 
stature,  or  completed  maturity,  of  the  fulfilled  Christ." 

Verse  14  states  negatively  the  design  of  our  attaining  to  the  unity  of 
the  faith  (verse  13),  and  verse  15  positively. 

14.  That  we  may  be  no  longer  children,  as  opposed  to  "full-grown 
men."  Tossed  to  and  fro  and  carried  about.  This  is  the  figure  of  a 
ship  abandoned  on  a  tempest-tossed  and  billowy  sea  —  the  symbol  of 
instability  and  insecurity.  With  every  wind  of  doctrine.  A  very 
expressive  phrase  and  very  applicable  to  the  confused  and  confusing 
multitude  of  varying  theories  and  systems  at  this  time.  It  implies 
that  the  readers  of  this  epistle  were  exposed  to  false  teachings,  as  we 
know  of  the  Colossians.  By  the  sleight  of  men.  The  literal  meaning 
of  the  word  is  dice.  It  suggests  the  dexterous  handling  of  the  dice  and 
so  means  here  clever  trickery  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving.  In  crafti- 
ness =  hy  craftiness  (the  same  preposition  as  in  the  preceding  phrase) 
by  means  of  craftiness  or  cunning.  After  the  wiles  of  error.  "Look- 
ing to  the  scheming  of  error." 

15.  But  speaking  truth  in  love.  Rather,  maintaining  the  truth  in 
love,  as  Paul  is  doing  in  this  very  epistle.  May  grow  up  in  all  things 
into  him.  Our  growth  in  all  points  in  which  we  grow  shall  proceed 
in  relation  to  him  who  is  head. 

16.  From  whom.  That  is  from  Christ,  who  is  the  head.  He  is 
the  source  of  the  life  of  the  church  and  of  the  growth  of  the  church. 
As  every  part  of  the  whole  body  depends  for  life  and  efl&ciency  on  its 

106 


I 


EPHESIANS 


°  ^  through  that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  ^according 
to  the  working  in  due  measure  of  each  several  part, 
maketh  the  increase  of  the  body  °unto  the  building  up 
of  itself  °in  love. 

IX.     The    Manner  of    Life  they  are  to  Live  in 

Correspondence  with  the  Lofty  Origin, 

Plan,  and  Motives  of  their 

Salvation,  4  :  17-6  :  9 

17.       This  I  say  ^therefore,   °and  testify  °in  the  Lord, 
that  ye  no  longer  walk  °as  the  Gentiles  also  walk,  °in 

*  Gr.  through  every  joint  of  the  supply. 

being  in  connection  with  the  head,  and  if  severed  from  the  head 
would  be  dead,  so  does  every  member  of  the  spiritual  body,  the 
church,  depend  on  Christ  for  life.  Compare  Col.  2  :  19  and  Jn.  15  : 
i-ii.  Through  that  which  every  joint  supplieth  =  through  every  con- 
tact of  the  supply.  This  is  the  means.  According  to  the  working. 
Denotes  the  measure.  Unto  the  building  up.  For  the  edification  of 
itself.  This  expresses  the  end.  In  love.  This  indicates  the  sphere  or 
respect  in  which  the  building  up  takes  place.  And  all  these  clauses 
are  modifiers  of  the  main  clause  of  the  sentence,  maketh  increase  of  the 
body. 

I.   Contrast  with  their  former  life  as  Gentiles ^  4  :  17-19 

17.  Therefore.  This  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  resumption  of  verse  i, 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  what  kind  of  a  life  is  not  worthy  of  their 
calling  as  children  of  God.  The  word  this  carries  special  emphasis. 
And  testify.  Better,  protest,  as  in  Gal.  5:3.  In  the  Lord.  His 
appeal  to  them  is  not  enforced  by  ordinary  prudential  considerations, 
but  has  its  ground  in  the  Lord.  When  Paul  is  referring  to  the  eternal 
purpose  of  God  or  to  the  provisions  of  grace  made  for  the  salvation  of 
men,  he  speaks  of  Christ  or  the  Christ;  when  he  refers  to  the  relations 
and  duties  that  pertain  to  practical  life,  he  speaks  of  them  as  in  relation 
to  or  in  subjection  to  him  as  Lord.  As  the  Gentiles  also  walk.  This 
is  the  second  description  in  this  epistle  of  the  unregenerate  life  of  the 
heathen.  The  former  was  in  chap.  2  :  1-3.  Here  again  he  uncovers 
the  hidden  springs  and  processes  of  the  gross  immorality,  the  vice  and 
the  sin,  that  render  repulsive  the  life  of  unregenerate  heathenism. 
In  the  vanity  of  their  mind.     The  word  literally  means  emptiness, 

107 


1 8  EPHESIANS 


i8.  the  vanity  of  their  mind,  °being  darkened  in  their 
understanding,  ^alienated  from  the  life  of  God  ^because 
of  the  ignorance  that  is  in  them,  because  of  the  harden- 

19.  ing  of  their  heart ;  ° who  being  past  feeling  °gave  them- 
selves up  to  lasciviousness,  *  to  work  all  uncleanness 

20.  with  2  greediness.     °But  ye  did  not  so  learn  Christ; 

»  Or,  to  make  a  trade  of        »  Or,  covetousness 

The  verb  is  used  in  Rom.  i  :  21  of  the  reasonings  of  the  heathen. 
Their  speculations  (about  God)  had  no  content  of  truth  in  them,  they 
were  simply  nothing.  The  adjective  of  a  synonymous  word  is  used 
in  Col.  2  :  8  in  describing  the  so-called  "philosophy"  of  the  false 
teachers  as  "empty  fraud." 

18.  Being  darkened  in  their  understanding.  Compare  Rom.  1:21, 
"  Their  foolish  heart  was  darkened."  They  can  but  live  in  the  vanity 
of  their  minds  since  their  faculty  of  discernment  has  been  darkened. 
They  cannot  see  right  and  wrong.  Some  people  are  without  the  power 
of  living  according  to  the  truth;  some  have  lost  the  power  of  seeing 
the  truth.  It  is  the  latter  that  Paul  is  describing.  Alienated  from 
the  life  of  God.  Strictly,  being  in  a  state  of  separation  from  the  life 
which  God  gives,  which  is  wrought  by  God  in  those  who  are  enlight- 
ened, repent,  and  believe.  It  is  practically  the  same  as  "without God'* 
in  chap.  2:12.  Because  of  the  ignorance  that  is  in  them.  The  cause 
of  their  alienation  is  their  ignorance,  which,  in  turn,  is  caused  by  the 
hardening  of  their  hearts,  and  hence  it  is  their  own  act  and  fault. 
"  The  emphasis  which  he  lays  on  lack  of  knowledge  corresponds  with 
that  which  elsewhere  in  this  epistle  he  lays  on  true  wisdom." 

19.  Who  being  past  feeling.  The  state  of  moral  insensibility 
when  one  no  longer  feels  the  reproaches  of  conscience.  What  a  fear- 
ful description!  The  estrangement,  the  utter  separation,  from  the  life 
of  God  is  by  these  words  proved,  in  conformity  with  their  actual  ex- 
perience and  moral  condition  =  being  such  as,  destitute  of  feelings  of 
reproach  or  remorse  or  regret,  gave  themselves  up  to  lasciviousness. 
Lasciviousness  is  here  personified.  They  have  surrendered,  body 
and  soul,  to  the  tyranny  of  Lust,  ready  now  for  the  pursuit  and  prac- 
tice of  every  form  of  uncleanness  with  greediness,  "with  entire  dis- 
regard of  the  rights  of  others"  (Lightfoot). 

2.  They  must  experience  thorough  transformation  in  outward  con- 
duct and  thorough  renewal  in  their  inward  nature,  4  :  20-24 

20.  But  ye  did  not  so  learn  Christ  (the  Christ).     Ye  have  learned 

108 


EPHESIANS 


21.  °if  so  be  that  ye  heard  him,  and  were  taught  in  him, 

22.  even  as  truth  is  in  Jesus:  °that  ye  put  away,  °as  con- 
cerning your  former  manner  of  life,    °the  old  man, 

23.  ° which  waxeth  corrupt  °after  the  lusts  of  deceit;   °and 

24.  that  ye  be  renewed  °m  the  spirit  of  your  mind,  °and 
put  on  the  new  man,  °  ^  which  after  God  hath  been 
created  °m  righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth. 

»  Or,  which  is  after  God,  created  <5r*c. 

Christ;  and  in  learning  him,  you  learned  to  renounce  ignorance  and 
darkness  and  hardness  of  heart  and  licentiousness  of  life. 

21.  If  so  be  that  ye  heard  him.  Assuming,  as  I  do,  that  you  have 
heard  him  and  received  instruction  in  him,  that  is,  if  he  was  the  sphere 
in  which  yoii  received  instruction,  even  as  he  is  the  sphere  of  truth 
itself.    Compare  Jn.  14  :  6,  "I  am  the  truth." 

22.  That  ye  put  away.  Lay  off  and  lay  aside  and  have  done  with. 
The  old  man.  The  man  that  you  once  were,  so  called  in  contrast 
with  the  new  man,  the  new  creation,  that  you  are  now  to  be.  It  is 
the  moral  state  or  nature  of  their  prechristian  life,  represented  as 
a  person.  As  concerning,  etc.  So  far  as  your  former  life  is  con- 
cerned. Which  waxeth  corrupt.  There  is  a  natural  progressiveness 
in  evil,  in  bad  character.  Bad  men  do  not  remain  bad,  they  become 
worse.  After  the  lusts  of  deceit.  In  conformity  to  those  deceitful  lusts 
which  so  blind  and  delude  men  as  to  make  wrong  seem  right  and  bad 
seem  good. 

23.  And  that  ye  be  renewed.  This  is  present  tense  and  denotes  a 
continuous  process  =  and  that  ye  be  continually  renewed  by  a  never- 
pausing  process.  In  the  spirit  of  your  mind.  You  must  continually 
be  made  new  in  the  tone  and  temper  of  all  your  mental  attitudes, 
aptitudes,  and  activities;  new,  in  contrast  with  what  the  tone  and 
temper  of  your  mind  and  thoughts  were  before.  There  must  be  a 
process  of  continuous  creation  in  the  spirit,  soul,  and  life,  as  science 
tells  us  there  is  in  nature. 

24.  And  put  on  the  new  man.  Be  a  new  somebody,  living  a  nev/ 
life,  from  new  motives,  with  new  ends  in  view.  Bring  your  lives  into 
correspondence  with  your  new  nature,  your  new  relations,  your  new 
position.  Be  new  people.  Which  after  God  hath  been  created. 
That  is,  this  new  character  that  you  are  to  have,  this  new  person 
that  you  are  to  be,  is  a  creation  new-made  in  accordance  with  the  type 
and  image  of  the  One  who  created  him  —  new-created  by  God  and 
now  like  God.  With  Paul  the  moral  transformation  and  renewal  of 
conversion  are  conceived  as  a  new  creation  rather  than  as  a  new 

109 


4  :  25  EPHESIANS 


25.  ° Wherefore,  putting  away  falsehood,  speak  ye  truth 
each  one  with  his  neighbour:  for  we  are  members  one 

26.  of  another.     °Be  ye  angry  and  sin  not:  °let  not  the  sun 

27.  go  down  upon  your  ^ wrath:  ^neither  give  place  to  the 

28.  devil.  Let  him  that  stole  °steal  no  more:  but  rather 
let  him  labour,  working  with  his  hands  the  thing  that  is 
good,  that  he  may  have  whereof  to  give  to  him  that  hath 

29.  need.    °Let  no  corrupt  speech  proceed  out  of  your  mouth, 

*  Gr.  Provocation. 

birth.  In  righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth.  Holiness  expresses 
our  attitude  and  duty  toward  God;  righteousness,  toward  men.  Of 
truth.  In  verse  21  he  spoke  of  the  embodiment  of  truth  in  Jesus; 
in  verse  25  he  exhorts  his  readers  to  avoid  falsehood  and  to  speak 
the  truth;  here  he  describes  the  new  being  as  created  to  resemble  God 
in  righteousness  and  holiness,  which  are  of  the  truth. 

3.    The  detailSi  positive  and  negative,  intermingled  all  through,  first 
the  one,  then  the  other,  4  :  25-5  :  21 

25.  Wherefore,  putting  away  falsehood.  The  Apostle  enforces 
his  general  injunction  to  put  off  the  old  nature  and  put  on  the  new 
by  several  particular  prohibitions  and  precepts.  He  names  and  for- 
bids six  of  the  practices  that  belong  to  the  old  man :  falsehood,  un- 
reasonable anger,  stealing,  bad  language,  bitterness  and  malice,  lust. 
The  prohibition  of  lying  is  followed  by  the  positive  command  to  speak 
always  the  truth  with  one's  neighbor.  The  reason  given  is  that  they 
are  members  of  one  another  —  and  to  lie  to  one  another,  how  con- 
tradictory! 

26.  Be  ye  angry.  This  seems  to  be  a  permissive  imperative  :  Ye 
may  be  angry,  only  do  not  sin.  In  anger  do  not  fall  into  sin.  Let  not 
the  sun  go  down  on  your  wrath.  Before  evening  let  your  provocation 
be  over. 

27.  Neither  give  place  to  the  devil.  Give  not  the  devil  an  oppor- 
tunity for  doing  harm  and  working  mischief  by  an  angry  state  of  mind. 

28.  Steal  no  more.  Stealing  is  to  give  place  to  honest  labor,  so 
that,  instead  of  taking  the  property  of  others,  he  may  have  something 
to  give  to  others  who  may  be  in  need  —  instead  of  laziness  and  stealing, 
labor  and  liberality. 

29.  Let  no  corrupt  speech  proceed.  The  word  translated  corrupt 
means  foul,  rotten.     Paul,  then,  here  gives  direction  concerning  the 

no 


EPHESIANS 


but  such  as  is  good  for  ^  edifying  as  the  need  may  be, 

30.  °that  it  may  give  grace  to  them  that  hear.  °And 
grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  °in  whom  ye  were 

31.  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption.  Let  all  bitterness, 
and  wrath,  and  anger,  and  clamour,  and  railing,  be 

32.  put  away  from  you,  with  all  malice:  and  be  ye  kind 
one  to  another,  tenderhearted,  forgiving  each  other, 
even  as  God  also  in  Christ  forgave  ^  you. 

5.       °Be  ye   therefore   ^imitators   of   God,    °as   beloved 

«  Gr.  the  building  up  of  the  need.        *  Many  ancient  authorities  read  us. 

conversation  of  his  readers.  He  even  considers  it  a  matter  of  such 
importance  that  he  returns  to  it  in  5  :  4,  where  he  is  more  specific  and 
strict  than  here.  That  it  may  give  grace  to  them  that  hear.  Their 
conversation  must  not  only  do  no  harm,  it  must  be  a  means  of  benefit 
and  a  channel  of  blessing. 

30.  And  grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  This  should  not  begin  a 
new  sentence  as  if  he  had  gone  on  to  a  different  subject.  The  con- 
nection is  this:  Let  no  filthy  words  ever  proceed  out  of  your  mouth, 
and  do  not  by  such  unclean  speech  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  is  a 
matter  of  fact  and  experience  that  the  use  of  filthy  language  does  pro- 
duce a  reflex  effect  in  the  heart  as  if  the  light  had  gone  out;  and  a 
sense  of  darkness  and  shame  succeeds.  In  whom  ye  were  sealed 
unto  the  day  of  redemption.  This  is  practically  a  repetition  of  what 
was  said  in  chap,  i  :  13,  14.  For  the  meaning  of  sealing  see  the  note 
on  that  passage. 

Each  of  Paul's  injunctions  is  enforced  by  a  grave  consideration. 
Falsehood  is  inconsistent  with  membership  in  the  body.  Cherished 
irritation  makes  room  for  the  evil  spirit.  Stealing  is  the  direct  opposite 
of  the  honest  labor  that  toils  for  that  with  which  to  help  others. 
Speech  that  is  corrupt  not  only  breaks  down  instead  of  building  up, 
but  it  actually  grieves  and  drives  away  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  in- 
junction to  put  away  bitter  feelings  and  the  brawling  and  railing  to 
which  they  give  rise  is  enforced  by  an  appeal  to  the  character  and 
action  of  God  himself.  You  must  forgive  each  other,  he  says,  be- 
cause God  in  Christ  has  forgiven  you  all  (Robinson). 

I.  Be  ye  therefore.  Rather,  become  ye  therefore.  This  is  clearly 
a  close  continuation  of  the  preceding  verses,  4:31,  32,  and  should 
not  by  any  means  be  put  off  into  a  new  paragraph,  as  is  done  even  in 
the  Revised  Version  and  the  American  Revision.  Much  less  should 
it  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  chapter.     In  the  text  of  Westcott  and 

III 


5:2  EPHESIANS 


2.  children;  °and  walk  in  love,  even  as  Christ  also  loved 
you,  and  gave  himself  up  for  ^  us,  °an  offering  and  a 

3.  sacrifice  to  God  for  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell.  °But 
fornication,  °and  all  uncleanness,  °or  covetousness, 
°let  it  not  even  be  named  among  you,  °as  becometh 

*  Some  ancient  authorities  read  you. 

Hort  there  is  no  break  whatever.  Imitators  of  God.  In  the  preced- 
ing verse  he  had  said  "God  forgave  you";  do  ye  then  be  imitators 
of  God  and  forgive  those  who  harm  you.  As  beloved  children. 
Children  imitate  their  parents,  so  do  ye  imitate  your  Father.  In  the 
word  ''beloved"  is  couched  a  tender  appeal.  If  they  know  they  are 
beloved  of  God,  it  will  make  it  easier  to  do  the  hard  thing  of  for- 
giving those  who  had  wronged  them. 

2.  And  walk  in  love.  Walk  is  the  key-note  of  this  whole  section 
(4  :  1-5  :  21).  Let  love  be  the  element  in  which  your  walk  shall  be, 
even  such  love  as  Christ  had  for  you,  prompting  him  to  give  himself 
up  for  you  —  a  self-sacrificing  love.  An  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to 
God  for  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell.  These  words  refer  to  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ,  of  course,  but  as  they  have  no  theological  reference  or  sig- 
nificance here,  they  cannot  be  used  in  defence  of  any  special  theory 
of  the  atonement.  Almost  the  identical  words  are  used  by  Paul 
of  the  present  which  the  Philippians  sent  to  him  in  prison  by  Epaphro- 
ditus.  See  Phil.  4  :  18,  "I  am  filled,  having  received  from  Epaph- 
roditus  the  things  that  came  from  you,  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell, 
a  sacrifice  acceptable,  well-pleasing  to  God." 

3.  But  fornication.  There  should  be  no  break  here;  the  Apostle 
goes  right  on  naming  and  characterizing  those  things  with  which  they 
are  to  have  nothing  to  do.  He  has  named  five  already.  This  is  the 
sixth.  And  all  uncleanness.  This  includes  every  form  of  sexual 
impurity,  whether  in  word,  look,  or  thought.  Or  covetousness. 
This  sin  is  over  and  over  mentioned  by  Paul  in  close  connection  with 
unchastity  in  its  various  forms.  They  were  the  two  prevalent  and 
common  sins  of  the  ancient  heathen  world,  and  they  are  also  of  the 
modern  Christian  world.  Let  it  not  even  be  named  among  you.  The 
five  preceding  prohibitions  stood  side  by  side  in  a  sort  of  staccato 
style  or  movement,  with  no  connecting  particles  to  bind  them  together 
or  to  make  transition  from  one  to  the  other.  But  when  he  comes  to 
the  twin  sins  of  fornication  and  avarice,  he  introduces  them  with  a 
particle  having  an  adversative  force,  as  if  to  call  special  attention  to 
them  —  butj  as  to  fornication  or  covetousness  let  me  say  they  are  not 
to  have  the  toleration  or  recognition  of  even  being  spoken  of  by  you. 
As  becometh  saints,  i.e.  not  to  mention  those  things.    The  saints  are 

112 


EPHESIANS  5  : 6 


4.  saints;  °nor  filthiness,  °nor  foolish  talking,  or  jesting, 
°which  are  not  befitting:   °but  rather  giving  of  thanks. 

5.  °For  this  ye  know  of  a  surety,  °that  no  fornicator,  °nor 
unclean  person,  °nor  covetous  man,  which  is  an  idolator, 
hath  any  inheritance  °in  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  God. 

6.  °Let  no  man  deceive  you  with  empty  words:  °for  be- 
cause of  these  things  cometh  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the 

a  new  order  of  purity  in  the  earth  and  to  belong  to  it  imposes  a  new 
order  of  obHgation:  noblesse  oblige. 

4.  Nor  filthiness.  Not  merely  in  words,  but  however  practised, 
in  word,  look,  gesture,  or  act.  The  context  shows  that  it  is  filthiness 
in  connection  with  sins  of  the  flesh.  Nor  foolish  talking.  Idle,  aim- 
less, empty,  foolish  talk,  such  as  that  of  the  professional  laughter- 
maker,  with  a  suggestion  of  vulgarity  from  the  context ;  the  word  is 
in  bad  company.  Or  jesting.  The  context  and  company  in  which 
this  word  occurs  suggest  a  doubtfully  turned  witticism,  a  witticism 
suggestive  of  something  unchaste,  such  as  may  be  heard  in  any  theatre 
in  these  days.  Which  are  not  befitting.  Are  not  becoming  to  saints; 
referring  to  last  three  words.  But  rather  giving  of  thanks.  A  word 
which  in  the  Greek  sounds  very  strikingly  like  the  Greek  word  for 
jesting,  just  preceding,  and  possibly  suggested  by  this  similarity  of 
sound.  Some  one  has  suggested:  "Let  the  grace  of  wit  be  super- 
seded by  the  higher  grace  of  thanksgiving." 

5.  For  this  ye  know  of  a  surety.  This  you  are  aware  of  from  your 
own  knowledge.  This  refers  to  the  statement  following:  For  this 
you  know  your  own  selves  without  my  telling  you,  namely,  that  no 
fornicator,  one  guilty  of  the  deed.  Nor  unclean  person.  A  person 
unchaste  in  any  way  or  degree  short  of  actual  fornication.  Nor 
covetous  man.  Again  the  vice  of  covetousness  is  associated  with  that 
of  lewdness  as  in  verse  3.  In  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  God.  Note 
that  he  does  not  say  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God,  but  of  Christ  and 
God.  Some  take  this  to  mean  the  kingdom  of  him  who  is  Christ  and 
God.  But  this  cannot  be  maintained  here.  The  passage  in  i  Cor. 
15  :  24  will  show  why  Paul  calls  it  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  God. 
The  one  kingdom  belongs  to  both. 

6.  Let  no  man  deceive  you  with  empty  words.  With  empty  words, 
words  that  have  no  truth,  no  reason  in  them.  This  warning  shows 
that  they  were  exposed  to  danger  from  false  teachers  (so  also  in  4  :  14). 
Those  here  referred  to  evidently  tolerated  and  palliated  the  vice 
of  sensuality,  and  defended  or  excused  covetousness,  and  also  taught 
that  these  sins  would  not  exclude  men  from  the  kingdom  of  God. 
For  because  of  these  things.     Indeed,  says  Paul,  these  are  the  very 

I  113 


5 : 7  EPHESIANS 


7.  sons  of  disobedience.     °Be  not  ye  therefore  partakers 

8.  with  them;    °for  ye  were  once  darkness,  °but  are  now 

9.  light  in  the  Lord:    walk  as  children  of  light  (°for  the 
fruit  of  the  light  is  in  all  goodness  and  righteousness 

10.  and  truth),   ^proving  what  is  well-pleasing  unto  the 

11.  Lord;    °and  have  no  fellowship  with  the  ^unfruitful 
works  of  darkness,  °but  rather  even  ^reprove  them; 

'  Or,  convict 

things  that  bring  down  the  wrath  and  judgment  of  God  on  the  diso- 
bedient even  in  this  world,  though  not  in  this  world  only. 

7.  Be  not  ye  therefore  partakers  with  them.  Become  not.  The 
Apostle  warns  them  not  only  against  being  but  against  becoming 
partakers  with  them,  i.e.^  against  allowing  themselves  to  lapse  into 
their  sinful  practices. 

8.  For  ye  were  once  darkness.  A  similar  use  of  the  past  tense  is 
found  in  Rom.  6  :  17,  **  yewere  the  servants  of  sin."  It  is  this  very  dif- 
ference between  their  past  and  their  present  that  furnishes  the  reason 
why  he  warned  them:  As  your  former  experience  of  darkness  is 
past,  do  not  return  to  it;  do  not  lapse  again  into  a  participation  in 
those  vices  which  you  have  turned  away  from.  Ye  were  darkness. 
A  form  or  figure  of  speech  not  unlike  that  which  we  use  in  English  — 
why,  you  were  once  darkness  itself.  But  are  now  light  in  the  Lord. 
The  same  form  of  speech.  You  were  formerly  darkness  itself  so 
benighted  were  you;  but  now,  on  the  contrary,  you  are  the  very  light 
itself,  so  illuminated  and  illuminating  have  you  become.  Compare 
also  Mt.  5  :  14.  Indeed,  you  are  born  of  the  light;  live  then  in  such  a 
way  as  will  show  that  you  have  the  nature  and  characteristics  of 
your  mother  —  as  children  of  light. 

9.  For  the  fruit  of  the  light  is  in.  The  products  of  light  consist  in 
goodness  of  every  form,  righteousness,  truth.  That  is,  these  are 
the  products  of  light.  If  you  then  are  the  children  of  light  and  your- 
selves light,  show  in  your  lives  the  goodness,  righteousness,  truth, 
which  are  the  fruits  of  the  light. 

10.  Proving  what  is  well-pleasing  unto  the  Lord.  This  is  to  be 
taken  with  the  words  walk  as  children  of  light  in  verse  8.  By  walk- 
ing in  the  light  they  will  test,  find  out,  prove,  what  is  well-pleasing  to 
God,  just  as  in  Rom.  12  :  2. 

11.  And  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness. 
Practically  the  same  as  verse  7,  Become  not  partakers  with  them. 
Unfruitful  works  of  darkness.  Light  has  fruit,  goodness,  righteous- 
ness, truth;   darkness  does  works,  but  bears  no  such  fruit.    Compare 

114 


EPHESIANS  5:15 


12.  °for  the  things  which  are  done  by  them  in  secret  it  is  a 

13.  shame  even  to  speak  of.  But  all  things  when  they  are 
^  reproved  are  made  manifest  by  the  light :  for  everything 

14.  that  is  made  manifest  is  light.  ° Wherefore  he  saith, 
Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee. 

15.  °Look    therefore    carefully  how  ye  walk,   °not  as 

*  Or,  convicted 

Gal.  5  :  19,  22.  But  rather  even  reprove  them.  They  must  not  be 
content  to  refrain  from  participation  in  the  doings  of  darkness,  they 
must  convict  them  or  expose  them.  For  it  is  the  property  of  light 
to  expose  what  is  hidden  in  the  dark  or  in  secret. 

12.  For  .  .  .  it  is  a  shame  even  to  speak  of .  This  gives  the  reason 
why  they  are  to  reprove  and  expose  the  works  of  darkness,  for  they 
are  so  very  bad  they  cannot  be  talked  about  and  they  therefore  must 
be  convicted. 

13.  The  meaning  of  verse  13  is  something  like  this:  "Exposure  by 
light  is  manifestation;  the  manifested  is  light;  even  darkness  made 
manifest  is  turned  to  light." 

14.  Wherefore  he  saith.  This  may  be  an  adaptation  of  the  lan- 
guage of  Is.  60  :  I,  "  Arise,  shine;  for  thy  light  is  come  and  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee,"  though  there  are  difficulties  in  this  view. 
Ellicott  says  the  words  quoted  by  Paul  occur  in  substance  in  Isaiah, 
and  that  Paul,  speaking  under  inspiration,  is  expressing  in  a  summary 
form  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  passage.  At  any  rate,  this  call  to 
the  sons  of  disobedience  to  awake  out  of  sleep  and  to  rise  from  the 
death  of  sin  confirms  the  necessity  of  reproving  or  exposing  them; 
and  the  promise  "Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee"  confirms  the  salutary 
influence  of  the  light  under  which  the  reproof  or  exposure  places 
them. 

15.  Look  therefore  carefully  how  ye  walk.  He  has  been  speaking 
about  the  attitude  and  duty  of  believers  toward  those  who  are  still 
in  darkness.  This  is  a  direct  continuation  of  the  same  subject  and 
still  has  in  view  outsiders.  There  should  be  no  break,  no  beginning 
of  a  new  paragraph  at  verse  15.  The  word  therefore  itself  shows  that 
he  is  treating  the  same  subject.  It  is  the  Greek  particle  of  retrospec- 
tive reference.  Not  as  unwise,  but  as  wise.  A  more  specific  definition 
of  the  words  of  the  preceding  injunction.  The  two  are  combined  in 
the  parallel  passage  of  Colossians,  Walk  in  wisdom  toward  those  that 
are  without  (Col.  4:5).  It  requires  wisdom,  some  call  it  tact,  to 
deal  properly  and  effectively  with  those  who  are  not  Christians. 

"5 


5  :  i6  EPHESIANS 


1 6.  unwise,  but  as  wise;  ° ^ redeeming  the  time,  ^because  the 

17.  days  are  evil.     ^Wherefore  be  ye  not  foolish,  °but  un- 

18.  derstand  what  the  will  of  the  Lord  is.     °And  be  not 
drunken  with  wine,  °wherein  °is   riot,   °but  be  filled 

19.  ^  with  the  Spirit,  speaking  ^  one  to  another  in  psalms 
and  hymns   and   spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making 

20.  melody  with  your  heart  to  the  Lord;  ^giving  thanks 
always  for  all  things  °in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 

21.  Christ   °to  *  God,  even  the   Father;  ^subjecting  your- 
selves one  to  another  °in  the  fear  of  Christ. 

*  Gr.  buying  up  the  opportunity.  '  Or,  in  spirit  3  Or,  to  yourselves  *  Gr. 
the  God  and  Father. 

16.  Redeeming  the  time.  Literally  the  words  mean  buying  up 
for  yourselves  the  opportunity.     You  are  to  show  yourselves  wise  by 

buying  up  for  yourselves  the  opportunity  for  reaching  and  rescuing 
those  who  are  still  in  the  outer  darkness.  The  price  to  be  paid  is  the 
pains  and  effort  required.  Because  the  days  are  evil.  As  the  op- 
portunities are  so  few  in  such  evil  days  as  these,  be  the  more  eager  to 
seize  them  when  they  come. 

17.  Wherefore  be  ye  not  foolish.  Do  not  become  foolish,  or  show 
yourselves  foolish,  undiscerning,  when  the  opportunity  comes.  But 
understand  what  the  will  of  the  Lord  is.  There  is  a  divine  purpose 
and  plan  even  in  the  midst  of  the  prevailing  evil.  If  you  are  truly 
the  children  of  light,  you  will  discover  it  and  act  accordingly. 

18.  And  be  not  drunken  with  wine.  This  is  a  particular  instance 
of  what  he  meant  by  being  foolish,  senseless.  Wherein.  In  being 
drunk  with  wine.  Is  riot.  Not  excess,  as  the  A.  V.  has.  It  is  disso- 
luteness. But  be  filled  with  the  Spirit.  There  is  a  spiritual  fulness 
brought  about  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  does  not  result  in  dissoluteness 
and  riot,  but  "  in  a  gladness  of  cheerful  intercourse,  psalm  and  hymn 
and  spiritual  song,  a  melody  of  hearts  singing  to  the  Lord." 

20.  Giving  thanks  always  for  all  things.  Paul  had  the  thanksgiv- 
ing spirit  and  habit,  and  he  had  the  habit  of  trying  to  get  others  to 
have  it.  Thanksgiving  is  a  recurrent  note  of  great  frequency  in  these 
later  epistles,  Ephesians,  Colossians,  and  Philippians;  but  it  is  not  by 
any  means  wanting  in  his  very  first  epistle,  for  he  says  in  i  Thess.  5:17, 
"  Rejoice  always,  pray  without  ceasing,  in  everything  give  thanks.''^  In 
the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  As  being  believers  on  him, 
disciples  of  his,  in  union  with  him  and  bearers  of  his  name.  To  God, 
even  the  Father.    To  him  who  is  God  and  Father.    Though  all 

116 


EPHESIANS  S  :  24 


22.  Wives,  be  in  subjection  unto  °your  own  husbands, 

23.  °as  unto  the  Lord.     For  °the  husband  is  the  head  of 
the  wife,  as  Christ  also  is  the  head  of  the  church,  %eing 

24.  himself  the  saviour  of  the  body.     °But  as  the  church 
is  subject  to  Christ,  ^so  °let  the  wives  also  be  to  their 

*  Or,  so  axe  the  wives  also 


blessings  come  to  us  through  Christ,  they  all,  including  Christ  himself, 
come  from  God  the  Father.  Hence  our  thanksgiving  is  to  be  directed 
to  him. 

21.  Subjecting  yourselves  one  to  another.  This  is  a  modal  defini- 
tion parallel  to  giving  thanks  and  shows  what  our  relation  and  attitude 
to  each  other  are  to  be,  as  the  participle  giving  thanks  shows  what 
our  attitude  to  God  is  to  be.  In  the  fear  of  Christ.  This  is  the  motive 
of  the  subordination  to  each  other  which  he  has  just  enjoined.  This 
is  clearly  illustrated  in  chap.  6  :  5,  where  he  commands  slaves  to 
be  obedient  to  their  masters  as  unto  Christ,  and  still  more  clearly  in 
Col.  3  :  22,  "Servants,  obey  your  masters  in  singleness  of  he^xt,  fear- 
ing the  Lord." 

4.  The  Christian  subordination  and  regulation  of  three  domestic 
relations,  the  most  vital  and  decisive  of  all  human  relations, 
5  :  22-6  :  9. 

22.  Having  given  in  verse  21  the  general  rule  of  mutual  subordi- 
nation, he  now  proceeds  to  apply  it  to  specific  relations.  Here  is  the 
eternal  principle  of  authority  and  obedience.  And  Christ  himself 
was  not  exempt  from  it:  "I  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister."  "Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  The  centurion  dis- 
covered this  disposition  of  obedience  in  Christ  when  he  said,  "  I  also 
(as  well  as  thou)  am  a  man  under  authority."  Your  own  husbands. 
The  word  "own"  contains  an  appeal  to  the  woman's  feeling  and  pride. 
As  unto  the  Lord.  As  though  in  obeying  your  husband  you  were 
obeying  the  Lord  Christ. 

23.  The  husband  is  the  head  of  the  wife.  Greek  —  a  husband  is 
head  of  his  wife.  Being  himself  the  saviour  of  the  body  (the  church). 
"A  man  is  head  of  his  wife  as  Christ  also  is  the  head  of  the  church, 
although  there  is  a  great  difference,  since  Christ  is  himself  the  saviour 
of  the  body  of  which  he  is  head." 

24.  But:  Notwithstanding  this  difference,  let  the  wives  be  subject 
to  their  husbands  in  everything.  "It  is  presupposed  that  the  author- 
ity of  the  husband  is  always  exercised  in  accordance  with  their  rela- 

117 


5  :  2S  EPHESIANS 


25.  husbands  in  everything.  Husbands,  love  your  wives, 
even  °as  Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself 

26.  up  for  it;   °that  he  might  sanctify  it,  having  cleansed  it 

27.  by  the  ^  washing  of  water  with  the  word,  °that  he 
might  present  the  church  to  ^himself  a  glorious  churchy 
not  having  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing ;  °but  that 

28.  it  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish.  °Even  so  ought 
husbands  to  love  their  own  wives  as  their  own  bodies. 

»  Gr.  laver. 


tion  as  corresponding  to  that  between  Christ  and  the  church."  Paul 
does  not  give  the  husband  authority  to  compel  his  wife  to  obey.  He 
instructs  the  wife  to  do  this  of  her  own  accord.  If  she  does  not,  Paul 
does  not  say  the  husband  is  to  extort  it  from  her.  But  of  course  the 
wife  in  that  case  is  answerable  to  God  for  disobedience  to  him. 

The  amplification  of  Paul's  advice  to  husbands  beyond  what  he 
says  in  Colossians  is  one  among  many  proofs  that  Colossians  pre- 
ceded this  epistle.  All  that  he  there  says  to  husbands  is  this:  "  Hus- 
bands, love  your  wives,  and  be  not  bitter  against  them.'* 

25.  As  Christ  also  loved  the  church.  That  is,  so  as  to  give  up  his 
life  for  it.  Chrysostom  says  on  this,  ''Wouldst  thou  that  thy  wife 
should  be  in  subjection  to  thee  as  the  church  is  to  Christ?  Then  care 
for  her  as  Christ  for  the  church." 

26.  That  he  might  sanctify  it.  This  expresses  the  purpose  of  his 
giving  himself  up,  in  preceding  verse.  The  aim  of  his  death  was  that 
after  having  brought  about  for  the  church  the  forgiveness  of  their 
prechristian  sins,  he  would  make  it  partaker  of  holiness  by  the  word 
(of  the  gospel),  cf.  Jn.  17  :  17. 

27.  That  he  might  present  the  church.  He  means  at  the  parousia. 
The  remote  aim  of  his  giving  himself  up  for  the  church  and  the  words 
immediately  depend  on,  that  he  might  sanctify  it.  Himself  to  himself. 
Such  is  the  order  of  the  words  in  Greek.  As  has  been  said,  "Christ 
does  not  permit  attendants  to  present  the  bride.  He  does  it  himself. 
He  presents,  and  he  receives."  But  that  it  should  be  holy.  That 
it  should  not  have  spot  or  wrinkle,  but  that,  etc. 

28.  Even  so.  This  is  probably  a  wrong  construction.  More 
probably  it  should  be  rendered:  Husbands  ought  so  to  love  their  own 
wives  as  their  own  bodies.  But  not  only  does  he  say  that  husbands 
should  love  their  wives  as  their  own  bodies;  he  virtually  says  that  the 
wife  is  the  body,  for  he  that  loveth  his  wife  loveth  his  own  body. 
The  man  in  loving  his  wife  is  loving  himself. 

118 


EPHESIANS 


29.  He  that  loveth  his  own  wife  loveth  himself:  °for  no 
man  ever  hated  his  own  flesh;    but  nourisheth  and 

30.  cherisheth  it,  even  as  Christ  also  the  church ;   ^because 

31.  we  are  members  of  his  body.  °For  this  cause  shall  a 
man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  to 

32.  his  wife;  and  the  twain  shall  become  one  flesh.  °This 
mystery  is  great :  °but  I  speak  in  regard  of  Christ  and  of 

33.  the  church.  ^Nevertheless  do  ye  also  ^severally  love 
each  one  °his  own  wife  even  as  himself;  °and  let  the 
wife  see  that  she  fear  her  husband. 

29.  For  no  man  ever  hated  his  own  flesh.  For  if  he  hated  her,  he 
would  be  hating  his  own  flesh,  whereas  he,  on  the  contrary,  nourishes 
and  cherishes  it,  even  as  Christ  does  the  church. 

30.  Because  we  are  members  of  his  body.  This  gives  the  reason 
for  the  preceding  words:  Christ  nourisheth  and  cherisheth  the  church 
because  we  are  members  of  his  body. 

31.  For  this  cause.  For  what  cause?  In  the  passage  which  Paul 
has  in  mind  and  which  he  here  quotes,  it  is  because  woman  was 
originally  taken  from  man  and  was  therefore  "  bone  of  his  bones  and 
flesh  of  his  flesh"  (Gen.  2  :  23,  24).  But  this  is  probably  not  what 
Paul  means  by  the  phrase  "for  this  cause."  He  probably  adapts 
the  phrase  to  the  course  of  his  own  thought  and  means  because  a  man 
is  to  love  his  wife  as  Christ  loved  the  church  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
church  left  his  rank  and  state  of  equal  association  with  the  Father 
and  became  identified  with  the  church  as  one  body,  therefore,  for 
this  cause,  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother  and  shall  cleave 
to  his  wife  and  they  twain  shall  become  one  flesh. 

32.  This  mystery  is  great.  That  is,  the  mystery  of  the  closeness 
of  the  relation  between  husband  and  wife,  which,  by  the  way,  implies 
a  sacredness  and  an  inviolability  far  above  the  gross  and  merely 
sexual  conceptions  of  the  marriage  relation  which  are  common  and 
growing  more  so  to-day,  and  which  are  openly  taught  in  some  of  the 
leading  works  of  fiction  of  this  day.  But  I  speak  in  regard  of  Christ 
and  of  the  church.  But  in  speaking  of  the  closeness  of  the  marriage 
relation,  as  I  have  just  done,  I  speak  of  it  in  its  deeper  application, 
in  reference  to  Christ  and  the  church. 

2,^.  Nevertheless.  However,  not  to  insist  any  further  on  the 
mystical  significance  of  marriage  as  bearing  on  the  relation  of  Christ 
and  the  church,  but  to  return  to  the  practical  duty  of  husband  and 
wife,  I  will  say,  do  ye  also,  after  the  example  of  Christ.  Severally 
.  .  .  each  one.    This  would  strike  every  husband  that  was  present 

119 


EPHESIANS 


6.       Children,  obey  your  parents  °in  the  Lord :  °for  this  is 

2.  right.     °Honour  thy  father  and  mother  (° which  is  the 

3.  first  commandment  with  promise),  °that  it  may  be  well 
with  thee,  and  thou  ^  may  est  live  long  on  the  ^  earth. 

4.  °And,  ye  fathers,  °provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath : 
°but  nurture  them  °in  the  chastening  °and  admonition 
°of  the  Lord. 


Or,  shall         «  Or,  land 


and  listening  to  the  reading  of  this  letter.  His  own  wife.  Paul  has 
used  this  form  of  speech  several  times  in  this  paragraph  to  wives 
and  husbands.  It  is  very  significant.  It  contains  a  sort  of  ad  homi- 
nem  appeal  —  she  is  your  own  wife,  your  very  own,  you  ought  to 
love  her  because  she  is  your  own.  And  let  the  wife.  Rather,  hut  the 
wife.  The  particle  is  slightly  contrastive.  The  husband  is  to  love 
his  wife  even  as  himself;  hut  the  wife  is  not  to  forget  her  duty:  let 
her  see  that  she  fear  her  husband.  Interpreted  by  the  instructions 
already  given  to  wives  in  verses  22-24,  this  means  that  the  wife  is  to 
recognize  in  her  inward  feeling  and  to  respect  in  outward  conduct 
and  action  the  authority  of  her  husband. 

1.  The  simple  injunction  to  children  to  obey  their  parents,  as 
found  in  Colossians  (3  :  20),  is  considerably  amplified  here.  In  the 
Lord.  Of  course  this  does  not  mean  your  parents  in  the  Lord,  but 
describes  the  spirit  in  which  the  obedience  is  to  be  given.  For  this 
is  right.  That  is,  it  is  right  in  itself,  as  it  is  also  in  accordance  with 
the  law  of  God  which  says, 

2.  Honour  thy  father  and  mother.     Not  only  obey  in  outward  act, 
but  let  your  mental  mood  and  attitude  toward  them  be  one  of  rev- 
erence and  afi^ection.     Which  is  the  first  commandment  with  promis' 
It  is  the  first  commandment  that  had  a  promise  attached  to  it.    Thi 
would  appeal  to  children  with  a  special  force,  who  naturally  look  to 
the  future  and  are  pleased  at  the  prospect  of  getting  reward. 

3.  That  it  may  be  well  with  thee,  and  thou  mayest  live  long  on  ae 
earth  (Dt.  5  :  16).  A  double  promise  of  temporal  prosperity  and 
long  life. 

4.  And,  ye  fathers.  The  and  shows  that  the  obligation  was  not 
all  on  one  side  —  and  you  fathers,  there  are  duties  which  you  owe 
to  your  children.  Provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath.  That  is, 
by  requiring  of  them  unreasonable  things,  by  too  frequent  or  too 
severe  punishment,  by  nagging  them,  or  in  any  other  way.  But  nur- 
ture them.  In  guarding  against  irritating  them,  you  must  not  go  to 
the  other  extreme  of   neglecting  training  and  discipline  altogether. 

'  120 


EPHESIANS 


5.  ^  Servants,  be  obedient  unto  them  that  according  to 
the  flesh  are  your  ^  masters,  with  fear  and  trembling,  in 

6.  singleness  of  your  heart,  as  unto  Christ;  not  in  the 
way  of  eyeservice,  as  men-pleasers ;    but  as  ^  servants 

7.  of  Christ,  doing  the  will  of  God  from  the  ^  heart;  with 
good  will  doing  service,  as  unto  the  Lord,  and  not  unto 

8 .  men :  knowing  th at  wh atsoever  good  thing  each  one  doeth , 
the  same  shall  he  receive  again  from  the  Lord,  whether 

9.  he  he  bond  or  free.  And,  ye  ^  masters,  do  the  same 
things  unto  them,  and  forbear  threatening:  knowing 
that  their  Master  and  yours  is  in  heaven,  and  there  is 
no  respect  of  persons  with  him. 

X.  Farewell  Appeal  and  Closing  Word,  6  :  10-24 

10.  °  *  Finally,  °  ^  be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  strength 

11.  of   his   might.     °Put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God, 

»  Gr.  bond-servants.        «  Or.  lords.         s  Gr.  sotil.        ■♦  Or,  From  henceforth 
s  Gr.  be  made  powerful. 

In  the  chastening.  Training  by  discipline.  And  admonition. 
Training  by  instruction.  Of  the  Lord.  Which  is  prescribed  or  in 
general  indicated  by  the  Lord. 

5-9.  This  paragraph  of  instructions  to  slaves  is  the  same,  almost 
word  for  word,  as  that  in  Colossians  (3  :  22-25).  See  comment  on 
that  passage. 

10.  Finally.  He  has  come  to  the  close  of  his  great,  some  say  his 
greatest,  message.  After  the  manner  of  a  chief  captain  exhorting  his 
soldiers  on  the  eve  of  battle,  Paul  gives  his  fellow-soldiers  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  foes  they  are  to  face,  the  forces  they  are  to  overcome,  and 
then  exhorts  them  to  equip  themselves  in  full  armor  for  the  struggle. 
Be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  strength  of  his  might.  In  the  begin- 
ning the  note  of  strength  was  touched;  at  the  close  it  is  sounded  again. 
Recall  how  the  Apostle  piled  up  words  for  strength,  power,  might,  in 
order  to  show  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  toward  believers 
(i  :  19);  and  now  he  exhorts  the  readers  here  at  the  close  to  avail 
themselves  of  it  in  order  to  meet  and  vanquish  the  forces  that  oppose 
them. 

11.  Put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God.    The  emphasis  is  on  the 

121 


12  EPHESIANS 


°that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the  devil. 

12.  °For  our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  °but 
against  the  principalities,  against  the  powers,  °against 
the  worid-rulers  of  this  darkness,  °against  the  spiritual 

13.  hosts  of  wickedness  in  the  heavenly  places,     ° Wherefore 


word  whole,  and  not  on  God,  as  some  say.  The  divineness  of  the 
armor  is  a  matter  of  course,  the  completeness  of  it  is  what  the  apostle 
stresses.  It  is  not  that  they  need  God,  they  knew  that;  it  is  that  they 
need  all  that  God  can  give,  all  the  equipment  that  God  can  furnish. 
That  ye  may  be  able  to  stand.  That  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  and  not 
fall  in  the  face  of  the  stratagems  of  the  leader  of  the  forces  of  evil. 

12.  For  our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood.  Very  well  did 
I  speak  of  the  stratagems  of  the  devil,  for  the  struggle  that  we  are 
engaged  in  is  not  against  mere  feeble  man.  It  is  not  against  human 
but  superhuman  powers.  But  against  the  principalities,  against  the 
powers.  Paul  here  seems  to  recognize  the  reality  of  the  hierarchy 
of  invisible  evil  powers  with  their  various  grades  and  orders.  This 
reopens  the  question  as  to  what  he  means  in  chap,  i  :  21,  on  which 
see  comment.  Against  the  world-rulers  of  this  darkness.  A  fur- 
ther description  of  the  principalities  and  powers  just  mentioned  — 
the  rulers  of  this  world,  whose  domain  is  the  present  darkness,  those 
who  extend  their  world-wide  sway  over  the  present  spiritual  and 
moral  darkness  (Meyer  and  Ellicott).  Against  the  spiritual  hosts 
of  wickedness  in  the  heavenly  places.  Here  again  Paul  goes  behind 
the  scenes  and  exposes  to  view  the  mysterious  powers  of  evil  that 
work  invisibly  to  hinder  the  good  and  increase  the  wickedness  of  this 
world.     See  a  similar  description  and  the  comment,  chap.  2  :  2. 

In  verses  13-17  we  have  the  enumeration  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
panoply  of  God  with  which  he  so  insistently  urges  them  to  arm 
themselves,  as  if  the  omission  of  any  single  part  would  insure  defeat. 
Now  whether  we  can  discover  why  he  calls  truth  the  girdle,  righteous- 
ness the  breastplate,  peace  the  marching  sandals,  faith  the  shield, 
salvation  the  helmet,  and  the  word  of  God  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
makes  comparatively  little  difference.  One  thing  is  clear  apart  from 
all  figures,  and  this  is  the  essential  thing :  The  panoply  of  God,  or  the 
full  preparation  and  equipment  of  the  Christian  for  the  struggle  which 
he  must  face  and  fight,  consists  of  truth,  righteousness,  peace,  faith, 
salvation,  and  the  word  of  God.  These  are  the  realities  behind  the 
figures. 

13.  Wherefore  take  up  the  whole  armour  of  God.  Since  we  have 
such  enemies  to  fight  and  overcome,  you  will  need  and  must  take  on  the 
complete  armor  which  God  supplies.    This  is  the  second  time  he  has 

122 


EPHESIANS 


take  up  the  whole  armour  of  God,  °that  ye  may  be  able 
to  withstand  in  the  evil  day,  °and,  having  done  all,  to 

14.  stand.     °Stand   therefore,    °having   girded   your  loins 
with  truth,   °and  having  put  on   °the  breastplate  of 

15.  righteousness,  °and  having  shod  your  feet  with  the  pre- 

1 6.  paration  of  the  gospel  of  peace ;  °withal  taking  up  the 


said  this  very  thing  (see  verse  11).  That  ye  may  be  able  to  withstand. 
That  ye  may  be  able  successfully  to  meet  and  overcome  in  the  day  of 
battle  and  fierce  conflict.  And,  having  done  all,  to  stand.  Having 
won  the  victory,  to  stand,  in  possession  of  the  field,  and  not  lie  pros- 
trate in  defeat. 

14.  Stand  therefore.  Stand  then,  ready  for  the  fight.  Stand  is 
here  used  in  opposition  io  fleCy  as  it  is  also  in  verse  ii.  Having 
girded  your  loins  with  truth.  The  word  truth  here  has  no  article 
and  is  used  in  its  widest,  most  general  sense,  including  the  truth  of 
the  gospel  and  inward  single-hearted  sincerity,  or  truth  objectively 
and  subjectively  considered.  As  the  girdle  was  primary  in  the 
armor  of  the  soldier,  without  which  no  other  parts  of  the  armor  could 
be  used  to  advantage,  so  if  a  man  was  without  the  truth  of  the  gospel 
on  the  one  hand  or  the  quality  of  sincerity  on  the  other,  nothing  else 
would  be  of  any  avail.  This  was  primary,  taking  precedence  of 
everything  else.  And  having  put  on.  All  these  participles  are 
dependent  on  the  verb  stand  and  denote  action  antecedent  to  it. 
The  breastplate  of  righteousness.  Righteousness  as  a  breastplate. 
This  means  actual  righteousness  of  Christian  character.  As  the  breast- 
plate protects  the  vital  parts  and  organs,  so  when  a  man  has  a  solidly 
righteous  character,  and  the  strength  of  the  consciousness  of  that 
fact,  he  is  proof  against  the  assaults  of  sin.  Exactly  the  same  truth  is 
taught  by  Jesus,  though  under  a  different  figure,  in  the  last  part  of 
the  sermon  on  the  Mount.  "  Whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine 
and  doeth  them  shall  be  like  a  man  who  dug  deep  and  builded  on  the 
rock;  and  the  rain  and  the  floods  and  the  winds  beat  upon  that  house; 
and  it  fell  not,  for  it  was  founded  on  the  rock"  (Mt.  7  :  24,  25;  Lk.  6  :  48). 

15.  And  having  shod  your  feet  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel 
of  peace.  Soldiers  could  not  march  without  good,  strong,  comfortable, 
durable  military  sandals.  These  formed  their  preparedness  for  march- 
ing, for  the  endurance  necessary  for  long,  arduous,  fatiguing  journeys. 
The  preparedness  of  the  Christian  soldier  for  the  endurance  involved  in 
the  long  journey  on  which  he  has  set  out  is  to  be  found  in  or  comes  from 
the  gospel  which  brings  to  him  Deace  —  the  removal  of  all  discord,  and 
the  sense  of  harmony  with  God,  with  himself,  and  with  all  the  world. 

16.  Withal  taking  up  the  shield  of  faith  =  the  shield,  which  is  faith. 

123 


17  EPHESIANS 


shield  of  faith,  wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  °quench 

17.  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil  one,  °And  take  the  helmet 
of  salvation,  °and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the 

18.  word  of  God :  °with  all  prayer  and  supplication  pray- 
ing °at  all  seasons  °in  the  Spirit,  °and  watching  there- 
unto °in  all  perseverance  °and  supplication  for  all  the 


The  shield  was  a  large  oblong  covering  of  wood,  strapped  to  one  arm 
of  the  soldier,  which  he  held  in  front  of  himself  to  "shield"  himself 
from  the  missiles  of  the  enemy.  Quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the 
evil  one.  The  reference  is  to  arrows  tipped  with  tow  dipped  in  some 
combustible  fluid  and  set  on  fire.  The  shields,  often  covered  with 
hide,  would  catch  and  extinguish  these  so  that  they  did  no  harm. 
These  fiery  darts  represent  fierce  temptations.  Faith  would  hold 
on  patiently  in  the  confidence  that  they  would  by  yielding  get  into 
more  suffering  than  they  would  escape,  and  that  in  a  little  while  the 
temptation  would  be  past.  So  faith  was  that  which  would  enable 
them  to  endure  temptation.  The  evil  one  here  probably  means 
the  devil,  as  in  other  passages  (Mt.  6  :  13;    i  Jn.  5  :  18). 

17.  And  take  the  helmet  of  salvation.  The  helmet,  which  is  sal- 
vation. In  I  Thess.  5  :  8  Paul  says,  "putting on  for  a  helmet //^e  hope 
of  salvation."  Here  there  is  no  such  limitation  and  he  means  sal- 
vation itself;  that  is,  appropriating  and  realizing  salvation  is  putting 
on  the  helmet.  And  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God. 
This  conception  is  probably  taken  from  Is.  11  :  4,  5.  Indeed  nearly 
all  these  figures  of  the  armor  are  taken  from  Isaiah,  chaps.  59  :  17  and 
II  :  4,  5.    Compare  also  Heb.  4:12. 

18.  With  all  prayer  and  supplication  praying.  It  would  be  clearer 
if  the  order  were  changed  thus:  Praying  with  all  prayer,  etc.  The 
first  is  the  general  word  for  prayer,  the  second  a  more  specific  kind  of 
prayer,  namely,  entreaty.  At  all  seasons.  Not  only  are  they  to  pray 
in  the  use  of  every  form  of  prayer  and  entreaty,  but  at  every  season, 
under  all  sorts  of  circumstances,  in  all  moods  and  conditions,  i  Thess. 
5  :  17.  In  the  Spirit.  In  view  of  Gal.  4  :  6  and  Rom.  8  :  15  this 
probably  means  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  Jude  20  it  is  explicitly,  "pray- 
ing in  the  Holy  Spirit."  '  And  watching  thereunto.  Since  the  un- 
ceasing prayer  that  Paul  has  enjoined  might  tend  to  weariness  and 
listlessness,  Paul  puts  them  on  their  guard  against  such  a  tendency. 
Watching  in  this  sense  is  different  from  what  Jesus  meant  when  he 
said,  "  Watch  and  pray  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation."  In  all  persever- 
ance. Perseverance  is  the  opposite  of  growing  weary,  fainting, 
giving  up.  And  supplication  for  all  the  saints.  This  is  the  word  for 
request  or  entreaty  again.    As  Tychicus  read  these  words  in  the  as- 

124 


EPHESIANS 


19.  saints,  °and  on  my  behalf,  °that  utterance  may  be  given 
unto  me  °  Mn  opening  my  mouth,  °to  make  known  with 

20.  boldness  the  mystery  of  the  gospel,  °for  which  I  am  an 
ambassador  in  -  chains ;  °that  in  it  I  may  speak  boldly, 
as  I  ought  to  speak. 

21.  But  that  ye  also  may  know  my  affairs,  how  I  do, 
Tychicus,   the  beloved  brother  and  faithful  minister 

*  Or,  in  opening  my  mouth  with  boldness,  to  make  known.        *  Gr.  a  chain. 

sembly  of  the  church,  the  hearers  would  be  reminded  of  their  brethren, 
fellow-believers  in  Christ  and  partakers  of  the  same  experience  and 
spirit  throughout  the  world;  and  it  would  expand  their  vision,  en- 
large their  hearts,  and  give  them  some  sense  of  the  unity  of  which 
Paul  had  said  such  grand  things  in  the  former  part  of  the  epistle 
(4  :  1-16). 

19.  And  on  my  behalf.  He  put  himself  last,  but  he  put  himself  in. 
This  is  a  beautiful  expression  of  Paul's  dependence  on  the  coopera- 
tion and  help  of  his  brother  Christians  and  his  confidence  in  them. 
That  utterance  may  be  given  me.  He  did  not  ask  their  prayers  for 
his  personal  advantage  or  comfort,  or  even  for  relief  from  affliction 
and  deliverance  from  prison  for  its  own  sake,  but  only  that  utterance 
might  be  given  him  for  preaching  the  glad  tidings.  What  a  lesson — • 
and  what  a  rebuke  —  to  some  preachers  !  In  opening  my  mouth.  On 
opening  my  mouth,  i.e.j  when  I  open  my  mouth.  To  make  known 
with  boldness.  That  is,  that  utterance  may  be  given  me  to  make 
known  with  openness,  boldness  of  speech,  the  mystery  or  unrevealed 
secret  which  the  gospel  contains  or  is. 

20.  For  which  I  am  an  ambassador  in  chains.  For  which  means 
for  the  gospel  —  in  behalf  of  which.  In  Colossians  (4  :  3)  it  is  "on 
account  of  which  I  am  also  in  bonds."  His  imprisonment  and  con- 
finement are  what  he  had  in  mind  when  he  asked  them  to  pray  that 
utterance  might  be  given  him.  I  am  an  ambassador  in  behalf  of  the 
gospel  —  but  I  am  in  chains  and  so  I  am  shut  off  from  preaching 
it,  unless  you  pray  for  me  that  the  opportunity  of  utterance  may  be 
given  me.  Compare  Philem.  22.  That  in  it  I  may  speak  boldly. 
Practically  the  same  as,  "in  order  that  utterance  may  be  given  me  to 
make  known  with  boldness  the  mystery  of  the  gospel,"  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse. 

21.  22.  This  paragraph  is  almost  word  for  word  the  same  as  the 
corresponding  paragraph  in  Colossians  (4  :  7-9),  the  chief  differences 
being  the  occurrence  of  the  word  also  in  this  one  and  the  mention  of 
Onesimus  in  Colossians  (4:9).    The  word  also  here  implies  that  the 

125 


EPHESIANS 


22.  in  the  Lord,  shall  make  known  to  you  all  things:  whom 
I  have  sent  unto  you  for  this  very  purpose,  that  ye  may 
know  our  state,  and  that  he  may  comfort  your  hearts- 

23.  Peace  be  to  the  brethren,  and  °love  with  faith,  from 

24.  God  the  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Grace 
be  with  all  them  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  °in 
uncorruptness. 


paragraph  and  epistle  to  the  Colossians  had  already  been  written  and 
the  meaning  would  be  here:  But  that  ye  also  (as  well  as  the 
Colossians,  to  whom  I  have  written  the  same  words)  may  know  my 
affairs,  etc.  Ellicott  says  that  "though  the  word  'also'  per  se  cannot 
safely  be  relied  on  as  an  argument  to  prove  the  priority  of  Colos- 
sians, still  on  that  hypothesis  it  admits  of  an  easy  and  natural 
explanation.'' 

23.  As  he  began  by  wishing  them  peace  and  grace  from  God  the 
Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so,  substantially,  he  closes.  Com- 
pare I  :  2.  Love  with  faith.  Faith  was  already  there  (i  :  15);  he 
prays  that  love  may  be  with  it;  may  love  be  joined  with  your  faith. 

24.  In  uncorruptness  =  those  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with 
an  incorruptible,  imperishable  love. 

And  the  epistle  closes  without  a  single  personal  salutation.  Surely 
it  could  not  have  been  written  as  a  letter  to  the  Ephesians  alone, 
whose  pastor  Paul  had  been  for  three  years  (Acts  20  :  31). 


196 


APPENDIX  I 


The  Relation  between  Colossians  and  Ephesians 


The  relation  between  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  and  that  to  the 
Ephesians  is  a  question  of  much  interest.  Indeed,  it  has  been  ascer- 
tained that  in  seventy-eight  out  of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-five 
verses  of  Ephesians  even  the  phraseology  is  almost  the  same.  This 
similarity  led  De  Wette  to  consider  Ephesians  as  practically  a  ver- 
bose amplification  of  Colossians.  Lists  of  parallel  passages  have 
been  prepared  by  De  Wette,  Meyer,  and  others,  in  which  the  fol- 
lowing parallel  passages  are  cited: 


Col.  I  :  22  .  . 

Eph.  I  :  4 

Col.  3 

I,  5  . 

Eph.  4  :  19 

Col.  I  :  14  . 

Eph.  I  :  7 

Col.  3 

:  8f.   . 

.  Eph.  4  :  22  f. 

Col.  I  :  20  .  . 

.  Eph.  I  :  10 

Col.  3 

:  8  f.   . 

.  Eph.  4  :  25  f. 

Col.  I  :  3,  4 

Eph.  I  :  15,  17 

Col.  3 

:8;4M 

5  .   Eph.  4  :  29 

Col.  I  :  27  .  . 

.  Eph.  I  :  18 

Col.  3 

:8  .  . 

.   Eph.  4  :  31 

Col.  I  :  16  .  . 

.  Eph.  I  :  21 

Col.  3 

:  12  f.  . 

.  Eph.  4  :  32 

Col.  I  :  18  f. 

Eph.  I  :  22  f. 

Col.  3 

5   . 

.   Eph.  5  :  3 

Col.  I  :  21  . 

Eph.  2  :  I,  12 

Col.  3 

:8   . 

Eph.  5  :  4 

Col.  2  :  13  .  . 

.   Eph.  2  :  5 

Col.  3  : 

5   .  • 

.   Eph.  5  :  5 

Col.  2  :  14  .  . 

.  Eph.  2  :  15 

Col.  3 

6   . 

.   Eph.  5  :  6 

Col.  I  :  20  .  . 

.  Eph.  2  :  16 

Col.  4 

5   . 

.  Eph.  s  :  15 

Col.  I  :  24  . 

.   Eph.  3  :  I 

Col.  3 

:i6f. 

.  .  Eph.  5  :  19  f. 

Col.  I  :  25  . 

.  .   Eph.  3  :  2 

Col.  3 

:  18  . 

.  .  Eph.  5  :  21 

Col.  I  :  26  . 

.  .   Eph.  3  :  3 

Col.  3 

:  19  . 

.  .  Eph.  5  :  25 

Col.  I  :  23,  25 

.  .   Eph.  3  :  7 

Col.  3 

:  20  . 

.  .   Eph.  6  :  I 

Col.  I  :  27  . 

.  .  Eph.  3  :  8  f. 

Col.  3 

:  21  . 

.  .   Eph.  6  ;  4 

Col.  I  :  10  . 

.  .   Eph.  4  :  I 

Col.  3 

:  22  f. 

.  .  Eph.  6  :  5  f. 

Col.  3  :  12  f. 

.  .   Eph.  4  :  2 

Col.  4 

:  I 

.  .   Eph.  6  :  9 

Col.  3  :  14  f. 

.  .   Eph.  4  :  3 

Col.  4 

:  2  f.  . 

.  Eph.  6  :  18  f. 

Col.  2  :  19  . 

Eph.  4  :  15  f. 

Col.  4 

7f.  . 

.  Eph.  6  :  21  f. 

H.  J.  Holtzmann  has  built  on  these  parallelisms  an  elaborate  and 
complicated  theory  as  to  the  relations  of  the  two  epistles;  but  it  is 
so  improbable  and  fanciful  that  it  is  not  taken  seriously  by  anybody 
but  himself.  Paul's  mind  was  full  of  what  he  had  just  written  to 
the  Colossians;  and  besides,  he  knew  that  what  he  had  just  written 
to  one  Asiatic  church  was  probably  suitable  for  others  as  well. 

127 


APPENDIX  II 

The  Relation  of  Ephesians  to  Other  New  Testament  Books 

I  Peter. 

There  are  many  parallelisms  between  i  Peter  and  Ephesians,  both 
in  matter  and  phraseology. 

The  language  of  i  Pet.  i  :  3  is  strikingly  similar  to  that  of  Eph. 
1 :  3.  The  general  structure  of  the  long  sentences  immediately  fol- 
lowing (i  Pet.  I  :  5-13;  Eph.  i  :  5-15)  is  quite  similar.  The  em- 
phasis laid  on  "hope"  in  i  Pet.  i  :  3-5  corresponds  with  that  of 
Eph.  I  :  18-20;  the  object  of  the  hope  in  both  is  "the  inheritance," 
the  ground  of  it  in  both  is  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  in  both 
the  power  of  God  is  the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be  realized.  There 
is  a  strong  resemblance  between  i  Pet.  2  :  4-6  and  Eph.  2  :  18-22. 
I  Pet.  3  :  18  is  like  Eph.  2  :  18  in  thought  and  language,  while 
I  Pet.  3  :  22  is  still  more  like  Eph.  i  :  20-22.  Again,  i  Pet.  i  :  20 
is  in  substance  and  form  hke  Eph.  3:9:  while  the  unusual  thought 
of  the  interest  of  angels  in  the  plan  of  redemption  is  brought  out  in 
I  Pet.  I  :  12  and  Eph.  3  :  10.  Compare  also  the  paragraphs  of 
I  Pet.  2  :  18-3  :  7  with  those  of  Eph.  5  :  22-6  :  9.  The  probability 
is  that  Peter  was  consciously  or  unconsciously  influenced  by  the  con- 
tents of  Ephesians,  and  so,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  made  use 
of  some  of  the  thoughts  and  even  the  expressions  therein  contained. 
But  what  of  it?  There  is  nothing  strange  in  that.  The  probability 
is  that  he  was  similarly  impressed  by  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
also  and  that  this  showed  itself  in  parts  of  his  own  Epistle ;  for  there 
are  striking  parallelisms  between  i  Peter  and  Romans.  If  it  be  said 
that  it  is  not  easy  to  understand  how  Peter  could  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  Ephesians,  it  may  be  answered,  as  it  has  been  answered, 
that  "if  I  Peter  was  written  by  Silvanus  {i.e.  Silas,  who  was  at  other 
times  an  attendant  of  Paul)  under  the  direction  of  Peter,  which  is 
probably  the  meaning  of  i  Pet.  5:12,  then  the  use  of  Paul's  thoughts 
and  language  is  sufficiently  accounted  for." 

The  Gospel  of  John. 

Still  more  real  and  vital  are  the  resemblances  between  the  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians  and  the  Gospel  of  John.  For  here  the  resem- 
blances are  in  thought,  in  the  occurrence  and  recurrence  of  certain 

128 


APPENDIX  II 


great  conceptions,  such  as  the  contrast  between  light  and  darkness, 
the  dominating  emphasis,  in  both  the  Epistle  and  the  Gospel,  on  the 
ideas  of  grace^  knowledge,  love,  the  recurrence  in  both  of  the  word 
fulness  (pleroma),  the  relations  between  Christ  and  God  the  Father 
"before  the  foundation  of  the  world"  (comp.  Jn.  17  :  24  with  Eph. 
I  14,  6).  The  work  of  salvation  is  in  both  that  of  sanctifying  (cf. 
Jn.  17  :  17,  19  and  Eph.  5  :  26),  which  is  accomplished  by  means 
of  the  word  (Jn.  15  :  3;  17  :  17  and  Eph.  5  :  26).  The  regenera- 
tion of  the  soul  is  in  both  described  as  a  raising  from  the  dead  ( Jn. 
5  :  21,  25,  28  and  Eph.  2:  5,  6).  In  both  are  references  to  the 
descent  of  Christ  from  heaven  and  the  ascent  of  Christ  to  heaven 
(Jn.  3  :  13,  31;  6  :  62  and  Eph.  4  :  9,  10).  The  statement  of 
Jn.  3  :  34,  that  the  Father  "giveth  not  the  Spirit  [to  the  Son]  hy 
measure,'^  becomes  intelligible  when  read  in  connection  with  Eph. 
4:  7,  ^'unto  each  one  of  us  was  the  grace  given  according  to  the  meas- 
ure of  the  gift  of  Christ." 

There  is  a  sustained  parallelism  of  thought  between  the  seven- 
teenth chapter  of  John  and  Ephesians. 

There  is  nothing  strange  in  supposing  that  "St.  John  read  and 
valued  St.  Paul's  writings,"  especially  this  epistle  to  the  Ephesians, 
as  John  spent  many  years  of  his  life  at  Ephesus,  where  it  was  pre- 
served and  was  well  known.  Nor  is  there  anything  unnatural  or 
strange  in  his  being  influenced  by  the  great  conceptions  of  this  "su- 
preme exposition  of  the  meaning  and  aim  of  the  Christian  revela- 
tion." 


M9 


INDEX 


Abbott,  9,  65. 
Adoption,  72. 
Analysis 

of  Colossians,  6-8. 

of  Ephesians,  63-64. 
Angelic  hierarchy,  81,  97. 
Angels,  worship  of,  37. 
Anger,  42. 
Archippus,  52. 
Aristarchus,  52. 
Asceticism  of  heretics,  36,  39. 
"At  Ephesus,"  59,  61,  62,  67. 
Authorship 

of  Colossians,  5. 

of  Ephesians,  55-58. 

Baptism,  Christian,  33,  34. 

Basil,  59. 

Beck,  65. 

Beet,  65. 

Bruce,  Dr.  A.  B.,  on  slavery,  49. 

Characteristics  of  the  Christian  life, 

44. 
Children,  duties  of,  47. 
Christ 

called,  the  "Beloved,"  73. 

Christians  died  with,  38. 

raised  with,  40-41,  85-86. 

deityof,  5, 18,22,31. 

exalted  over    all    in    earth   and 
heaven,  82. 

head  of  universe  and  of  church,  21 . 

peace  of,  to  rule  in  heart,  45. 

the  Reconciler,  22,  23. 

relation  of,  to  creation,  19. 

resurrection  of,  80. 

suflSciency  of,  32. 
Circumcision,  Christian,  3a. 


Colossae,  city  of,  1. 
Colossians 

analysis  of,  6-8. 

Epistle  to,  1-8. 

faithful,  30. 
Conversation,  51. 

Dale  on  Ephesians,  65. 

Date  of  Colossians  and  Ephesians,  6. 

Demas,  52. 

Devil,  the,  84. 

Eadie,  65. 

Election,  70. 

EUicott,  65. 

Epaphras,  i,  2,  14,  30,  52. 

Ephesians 

analysis  of,  63-64. 

destination  of,  62. 

Epistle  to,  55  fif. 

written  by  Paul,  58-59. 
Ephesus,  Paul  at,  55. 
Equality  of  all  in  Christ,  43. 
Experience,  the,  of  Colossians,  23, 
24,  33- 

Faith,  salvation  by,  86. 
Fathers,  duties  of,  47. 
Findlay,  65,  68,  69. 
Foreordination,  72. 
Fornication,  42. 

Fulness  (pleroma),  15,  22,  32,  75 
82. 

Gentiles,  62,  75,  88-91,  96,  97. 

Gnosticism,  3. 

Good  works,  87. 

Gospel,  extension  of,  13,  25. 

Grace  of  God,  73,  74. 


131 


INDEX 


Harnack,  58. 

Heavenly-mindedness,  40,  41. 

Heresy  at  Colossae,  2,  3,  4,  31,  36-37. 

Hierapolis,  52. 

Hierarchy,  the  angelic,  81,  97. 

Holtzmann,  5,  127. 

Hope,  80. 

Husbands,  duties  of,  46. 

Hymns  and  songs,  45. 

Impurity,  42. 
Infants,  state  of,  85. 

John,  Gospel  of,  relation  of  Ephe- 
sians  to.  Appendix  II,  128. 

Jiilicher  on  authorship  and  date  of 
Colossians  and  Ephesians,  6. 

Knowledge,  15,  16.  * 

Laodicea,  52. 

letter  from,  53,  59,  60. 
Law  "of  ordinances,"  35,  89. 
Lightfoot,  2,  8,  17,  59. 
Luke,  52. 

Maclaren,  A.,  9. 

McPherson,  65. 

Marcion,  59. 

Mark,  52. 

Massie  on  "Elements,"  3. 

Masters,  duties  of,  48. 

Meyer,  9,  64. 

Onesimus,  51. 
Origen,  59. 

Paul 

the  Apostle,  11,  67. 

a  prisoner,  50,  53. 

his  anxiety  about  Colossians,  28. 

his  prayers,  79,  93. 

relation  to   the  Gospel,    26,    27, 

88-91,  96,  79. 
sufferings,  25. 


Peake,  3,  8. 

Peter,  i  Epistle  of,  60,  and  Appen- 
dix II,  128. 
Plan  of  a  new  universe  in  Christ, 

75- 
Plato,  58. 
Prayer 

intercessory,  49. 

perseverance  in,  49. 
Prophets,  91,  92. 

Reconciliation  through  Christ,  22, 

23,  75- 

Redemption,  73,  77,  78. 

Respect  of  persons,  none  with 
God,  48. 

Robinson,  J.  Armitage,  on  Ephe- 
sians, 65. 

Salmond 

on  Ephesians,  64. 

on  predestination,  71. 
Sinaitic  manuscript,  59. 
Slavery,  47749- 
Slaves,  duties  of,  47. 
Songs  and  hymns,  45. 

TertuUian,  59. 
Thanksgiving,  12. 
Timothy,  11. 
Tychicus,  51,  60. 

Unbelievers,  duty  of  Christians  tow- 
ards, 50. 
Unchastity,  42. 

Vatican  manuscript,  59. 
Von  Soden,  5. 

Wisdom,  15 

Wives,  duties  of,  46. 

Zahn,  9,  65. 


132 


The  Bible  for  Home  and  School 

SHAILER  MATHEWS,  General  Editor 

"  An  admirable  series  of  handy  commentaries."  —  The  Congre- 
gationalism. 
"  Admirable  in  style  and  adequate  in  contents."  —  The  Christian 

Advocate. 

HEBREWS 

By  E.  J.  GOODSPEED  50  cents;  by  mail,  55  cents 

ACTS 

By  George  H.  Gilbert  75  cents;  by  mail,  82  cents 

GALATIANS 

By  B.  W.  Bacon  50  cents ;  by  mail,  SS  cents 

GENESIS 

By  H.  G.  Mitchell  go  cents;  by  mail,  g8  cents 

EPHESIANS  and  COLOSSIANS 

By  Gross  Alexander  Now  ready 

I  SAMUEL 

^     By  L.  W.  Batten  In  preparation 

PSALMS 

By  J.  P.  Peters  In  preparation 

ISAIAH 

By  John  E.  McFadyen  In  preparation 

AMOS,  HOSEA,  and  MICAH 

By  J.  M.  P.  Smith  In  preparation 

JOHN 

By  Shailer  Mathews  In  preparation 

ROMANS 

By  E.  I.  Bosworth  In  preparation 

"There  is  a  guarantee  of  the  merit  of  the  series  in  that  it  is  un- 
der the  general  editorship  of  Professor  Shailer  Mathews,  widely 
known  as  author,  editor,  and  theologian."  —  Universalist  Leader, 

"Nothing  could  be  better  for  home  use  or  for  the  Sunday-school 
teacher."  —  Pacific  Churchman, 


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NEW  TESTAMENT  HANDBOOKS 

Each  $1.00  net 

EDITED  BY 

SHAILER  MATHEWS 

Professor  of  New  Testament  History  and  Interpretation, 
University  of  Chicago 

The  History  of  the  Textual  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament 

Prof.  Marvin  R.  Vincent,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Exegesis,  Union 
Theological  Seminary. 

Professor  Vincent's  contributions  to  the  study  of  the  New  Testament  rank  him 
among  the  first  American  exegetes.  His  most  recent  publication  is  "A  Critical 
and  Exegetical  Commentary  on  the  Epistles  to  the  Philippians  and  to  Philemon  " 
("  International  Critical  Commentary"),  which  was  preceded  by  a  "Students'  New 
Testament  Handbook,"  "  Word  Studies  in  the  New  Testament,"  and  others. 

The  History  of  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament 

Prof.  Henry  S.  Nash,  Professor  of  New  Testament   Interpretation,  Cam- 
bridge Divinity  School. 

Of  Professor  Nash's  "Genesis  of  the  Social  Conscience,"  The  Outlook  said: 
"  The  results  of  Professor  Nash's  ripe  thought  are  presented  in  a  luminous,  com- 
pact, and  often  epigrammatic  style.  The  treatment  is  at  once  masterful  and  help- 
ful, and  the  book  ought  to  be  a  quickening  influence  of  the  highest  kind  ;  it  surely 
will  establish  the  fame  of  its  author  as  a  profound  thinker,  one  from  whom  we  have 
a  right  to  expect  future  inspiration  of  a  kindred  sort." 

Introduction  to  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament 

Prof.  Benj.  W.  Bacon,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Interpretation,  Yale 
University. 
Professor  Bacon's  works  in  the  field  of  Old  Testament  criticism  include  "  The 
Triple  Tradition  of  Exodus,"  and  "  The  Genesis  of  Genesis,"  a  study  of  the  docu- 
mentary sources  of  the  books  of  Moses.  In  the  field  of  New  Testament  study  he 
has  published  a  number  of  brilliant  papers,  the  most  recent  of  which  is  "  The 
Autobiography  of  Jesus,"  in  the  American  Journal  of  Theology, 

The  History  of  New  Testament  Times  in  Palestine 

Prof.  Shailer  Mathews,  Professor  of  New  Testament  History  and  Inter- 
pretation, The  University  of  Chicago. 
The  Congregafionalist  says  of  Prof.  Shailer  Mathews's  "  The  Social  Teaching 
of  Jesus"  :  "  Re-reading  deepens  the  impression  that  the  author  is  scholarly,  devout, 
awake  to  all  modern  thought,  and  yet  conservative  and  preemmently  sane.  It, 
after  reading  the  chapters  dealing  with  Jesus'  attitude  toward  man,  society,  the 
family,  the  state,  and  wealth,  the  reader  will  not  agree  with  us  m  this  opinion,  we 
greatly  err  as  prophets." 


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NEW  TESTAMENT  HANDBOOKS  — antmued 


The  Teaching  of  Jesus 

Prof.    George    B.    Stevens,    Professor    of    Systematic    Theology,    Yale 
University. 

Professor  Stevens's  volumes  upon  "The  Johannine  Theology,"  "The  Pauline 
Theology,"  as  well  as  his  recent  volume  on  "The  Theology  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment," have  made  him  probably  the  most  prominent  writer  on  biblical  theology  in 
America.    His  new  volume  will  be  among  the  most  important  of  his  works. 

The  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament 

Prof.  E.  P.  Gould,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Interpretation,  Protestant 
Episcopal  Divinity  School,  Philadelphia. 

Professor  Gould's  Commentaries  on  the  Gospel  of  Mark  (in  the  "  International 
Critical  Commentary")  and  the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  (in  the  "American 
Commentary")  are  critical  and  exegetical  attempts  to  supply  those  elements  which 
are  lacking  in  existing  works  of  the  same  general  aim  and  scope. 

"  An  excellent  series  of  scholarly,  yet  concise  and  inexpensive  New  Testament 
handbooks." —  Christian  Advocate ,  New  York. 

"These  books  are  remarkably  well  suited  in  language,  style,  and  price,  to  all 
students  of  the  New  Testament." —  The  Congregationalist,  Boston. 


Also  by  Shailer  Mathews 
The  Church  and  the  Changing  Order 

"  A  most  interesting  and  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  a  subject 
that  is  growing  in  popular  attention  every  day.  While  among  the  deeply, 
really  religious  and  genuinely  scientific  there  is  no  conflict  or  antagonism 
where  even  there  is  not  accord,  this  unfortunately  is  not  commonly  the  case 
among  the  masses  who  have  only  caught  the  forms  of  religious  and  scientific 
knowledge  without  their  spirit.  This  book  is  addressed  much  more  it  seems 
to  the  religious  than  the  scientific,  possibly  because  the  latter  have  the  less 
need  for  repentance.  Those  who  are  troubled  in  any  way  at  the  seeming 
conflict  between  the  demands  of  faith,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  experiences 
of  their  own  reason  and  the  problems  of  modern  social  and  industrial  life 
will  find  here  much  sage,  illuminating,  and  practical  counsel."  —  Evening 
Post, 

Clothy  I2m0f  $i.jo  net 

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Complete  in  one  volume,  printed  in  clear  type  on  Croxley  Mills  Bible 
paper,  attractively  bound  in  cloth  or  leather,  with  gilt  top  and  title. 


THE 

Modern  Reader^s  Bible 

The  Sacred  Scriptutes  Presented  in 
Modern  Literary  Form 

Edited,  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes, 
by  Richard  G.  Moulton,  M.A.,  Ph.D. 

Olive  green  cloth ^  gilt  top^  $2.00  net;  by  mail,  $2.iy.     Li?np 
moroccOf  round  cornersy  full  gilt,  $j.oo  net ;    by  mail,  $j.i7. 


"The  *  Modern  Reader's  Bible '  is  altogether  admirable  and  of  special 
value."  —  Henry  C.  Potter,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 

"To  the  student,  and  to  all  persons  who  relish  truth  in  its  finest 
form  of  expression,  it  is  a  positive  boon."  —  John  F.  Hurst,  Bishop 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

"  I  look  for  a  large  increase  of  interest  in  the  Bible,  for  a  much 
better  understanding  of  its  general  spirit  and  teaching,  and  especially 
for  an  increased  appreciation  of  its  inspirational  power,  from  the 
publication  of  the  *  Modern  Reader's  Bible.'"  —  Lyman  Abbott, 
Editor  The  Outlook, 


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